Reading Assessments
Erin Acker - Literacy Assessments as Teaching Tools
What is the Definition of Reading?
Formative vs. Summative Assessments
Summative Assessments - these are assessments given at the end of a learning unit to determine what has been learned. Summative assessments judge performance.
Why do we assess reading?
Assessment holds students, teachers, and schools accountable for providing appropriate education by reporting results to parents and school districts.
Assessments help determine the strengths and weaknesses of a reading program.
What do we assess when we assess reading?
How, where, and when do we assess reading?
"In contrast, if we assess individual students progress to gauge the effectiveness of of daily reading lessons, our assessments must be sensitive to the detailed goals of the lessons and the information provided by the assessment must be immediately useful" (Afflerbach, 2012).
Using the CURRV Model to Determine the Suitability of Reading Assessment
1. Consequences - the main consequence of assessment should be to help students further develop their reading skills.
2, Usefulness - "a useful assessment would be one that allows the teacher to gather accurate and useful information about students' reading" (Afflerbach, 2012).
3. Roles and Responsibilities - the teacher's role is to remind students to take the assessment seriously and it is the students' responsibility to put forth their best effort in order for the assessment to be a valid representation of their knowledge.
4. Reliability - this has two components:
a. the true component - does this reflect the child's true ability?
b. the error component - which parts of the assessment do not reflect
the child's true ability?
5. Validity - there are two kinds of validity that we should consider:
a. construct validity - when the assessment represents those skills that
are explicitly taught and deemed valuable within the reading
program.
b. ecological validity - the ability of the child to generalize the skills
they learn in the classroom to the world.
Focus on Assessments and Accountability
Consequently, as teachers we need to find a balance between instruction and assessment and focus instead on the child!