Weddle Elementary and Cornelius Elementary Reading Assessment Plans

1. Weddle Elementary and Cornelius Elementary Reading Assessment Plans Evaluated and compared by Kristen Pittenger Sylvanna Gallegos

2. Reading Program overview Weddle Elementary Cornelius Elementary • - Daily Five - Read to Self - Read to Someone - Word Work - Listening - Writing • Data Teams • AR Reading Program • Daily Five - Read to Self - Read to Someone - Word Work - Listening - Writing • Data Teams school wide • Read Naturally • Walk to Read

3. Assessment overview Weddle Elementary Cornelius Elementary • - DRA-EDL • - Running Records • - WAT • - STAR (once a week) • - Assessment in Spanish and English • Teacher informal assessments. • Daily Five meetings • Woodcock- Munoz • DRA-EDL • Running Records • Assessment in Spanish and English according to the native language the student is being instructed, in Second Grade both languages. • Teacher informal assessments. • Daily Five meetings. • Woodcock-Munoz

4. Assessments administration Weddle Elementary Cornelius Elementary • DRA: Administered in Fall, Winter, Spring • WAT:Administered in KG. Other grades have option • STAR: Given on a weekly basis • Daily Five: Teachers confer and read with students 1 every 1 to 2 weeks. • DRA :Administered in the Fall and in the Spring. • Running Records: Used more to assess students in interventions. • Daily Five meetings depending on the area the student is working on, but mostly every one to two weeks.

5. DRA Advantages Disadvantages • Measures important traits in reading. - Decoding - Comprehension - Fluency - Accuracy - Valid tool - Reliable tool • - Time consuming 30-40 minutes per student.

6. Running records Advantages Disadvantages • Provides information of progress. • Done more frequently than DRA • Can be used to record interventions and data on a student. • Time

7. Wat/stars Advantages Disadvantages • Gives overview of many skills. • Provides teachers with strengths and weaknesses of students with in regards to their understanding of words. • Can take time • Not always the answer

8. Daily five Advantages Disadvantages • Check ins can be done frequently. • Encourages independence and resposibility in students. • Easy to track. • Teacher can meet with students and work on different goals. • Takes time to teach and build routines.

9. Woodcock-munoz Advantages Disadvantages • Administered during the Fall to place students in appropriade level of English Language Development. • Not always an accurate picture of a students English skills.

10. Program Model • IRA/NCT STANDARDS: • The Standards • The interests of the student are paramount in assessment. • The teacher is the most important agent of assessment. • The primary purpose of assessment is to improve teaching and learning. • Assessment must reflect and allow for critical inquiry into curriculum and instruction. • Assessment must recognize and reflect the intellectually and socially complex nature of reading and writing and the important roles of school, home, and society in literacy development. • Assessment must be fair and equitable. • The consequences of an assessment procedure are the first and most important consideration in establishing the validity of the assessment. • The assessment process should involve multiple perspectives and sources of data. • Assessment must be based in the local school learning community, including active and essential participation of families and community members. • All stakeholders in the educational community—students, families, teachers, administrators, policymakers, and the public—must have an equal voice in the development, interpretation, and reporting of assessment information. • Families must be involved as active, essential participants in the assessment process

11. COMPARISON MODEL BETWEEN WEDDLE AND CORNELIUS • Both schools use the teacher as the most important agent in assessment and the assessment is used to aide instruction and curriculum. • Our DRA and reading conferences, as well as Weddle’s STAR assessment provide multiple sources of data. • The reading conferences and the DRA allow for the assessment to recognize the complex nature of reading and take into account the affects of school, home, and  development. • Both schools do not involve the families in the assessment process but, they are given the results, but maybe more ways could be developed to bring them in as more active participants.

12. Success rating Weddle Elementary Cornelius Elementary • So far school meets AYP and has met for the last two years. • Teachers are noticing students developing more reading strategies and are able to delve deeper into texts. • Teachers are provided with some opportunities for training. • Cornelius Elementary has been rated satisfactory. • Recognized with an award for their reading program. • Teachers believe their reading program is successful, and it could improve every year. • Principal is always looking out for research and providing training opportunities in the reading program.

13. Changes! Weddle Elementary Cornelius Elementary • Find ways to support teachers with the amount of time the DRA takes • More training on Daily 5 • Make families more apart of the assessment process and results. • DRA three times per year, in that way less children would be behind. • Have the same approaches in every grade level. • More training and time to implement and create materials after a training.

14. questions 1. How can schools bring families and communities into the assessment process? What are ways that they can be active participants? 2. We differentiate our instruction. Should assessment be something that we differentiate as well? How can we hold standards high for all children, but still recognize differences in development and account for their progress and successes? 3. Many of our students feel nervous to take a reading test, or to read aloud. How can we foster confidence with in our students so that we can take away the anxiety they are feeling?