"Without assessments that are sensitive to the contributions
of each component to overall reading ability, teachers will not be able to
target their instruction to the skills and strategies most in need of
improvement" (p.27).
Adolescents mostly take quizzes,
end-of-chapter tests, district and statewide tests, and standardize measures of
reading. These Summative Assessments inform teachers about their
classroom-level instruction and provide necessary school, district, and state
level data. As Reading Specialists, these assessments do not inform daily
instructional decision- making or information on individual student progress.
Formative Assessments
There are three types of formative
assessment that content-area teachers can integrate into their instruction.
Teacher questioning, teacher observation of students’ reading strategies, and
performance assessment.
Teacher questioning is the most
common form of formative assessment and teachers should not use these as
comprehension checks. Instead, they should ask questions that fall into these
three categories:
- Questions that focus on student learning of content
- Questions that focus on the development and use of reading skills and strategies
- Questions that model the kinds of questions students should learn to ask themselves while reading
The first category allows teachers
to assess how students are progressing in relation to standards and
instructional goals. The second category focuses on assessing the strategies
and skills students are using or not using when reading. The last category
involves both instruction and assessment. Instead of answering comprehension
questions that are found at the end of the chapter or reading story, teachers
should ask questions in these three categories to improve student achievement.
A great strategy that can be used
to observe the reading strategies students use while reading is “think alouds.”
According to the National Institute for Literacy (2007), “When students think aloud as they read, they describe the strategies that they
use to make sense of a text” (p.29). This information gives teachers direction on what
reading strategies need to be emphasized with each individual student. “Think alouds” are implemented throughout our
district and are used as a form of assessment to direct our instruction for
each individual student.
According to the
video, Leading A Balanced Literacy
Assessment System: Conducting A Literacy Assessment Review, it is important
to set goals and reflect on the outcomes. The speakers highlighted important
questions to reflect on which included:
- How much time is spent on literacy assessment?
- What redundancies are included in your system?
- What data is used for curriculum decisions?
- What data is used for individual student decisions?
- How much variety is included in your assessment system?
Answering these questions will help implement effective and
meaningful assessments in an effort to improve student achievement.
References:
National Institute for Literacy. (2007). What Content-Area Teachers Should Know About Adolescent Literacy. doi:10.1037/e717822007-001
Wisconsin DPI. (2015, January 16). Leading a balanced literacy assessment system: Conducting a literacy assessment review. Retrieved April 13, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v-uruFu6f-kg0
