Observe+and+Assess

=Observe and Assess= Laurie A. Ryan


 * //"There are many different ways to comprehend a text (e.g., Wade, 1990; Wade, Trathen, & Shaw, 1990), and readers bring different strengths and weaknesses to the process", (Duke, Pearson,Strachan, & Billman, 2011).//**

Students struggle when reading for many different reasons. Some have strengths in prior knowledge yet can not read with great fluency; some may read with great success and not be able to apply what they have read in their writing; others may not be able to retell what they have read. Because of the complexity of each students' ability, observation and assessment becomes a key role in ascertaining their strengths and weaknesses.

**Qualitative Reading Inventory**
Through the use of retelling passages for every grade level instructors will have the tools necessary to asses prior knowledge as used with reading for fluency, comprehension and word identification. Designed by Lauren Leslie and JoAnne Schudt Caldwell, this assessment is used pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Observing how a student re-tells a passage, what they are able to infer from the reading and whether they are able to make sense of the reading, will allow an understanding of the student's comprehension. With the information garnered from this assessment, instructors will be able to determine specific interventions for instruction. This assessment tool can be purchased through several online outlets starting at $63.00.

**Benchmark Assessment System**
Students are assessed on the basis of connecting what they have read through their writing and their understanding of the context. Designed by Irene Fountas and Gay Pinnell directly from their own experiences in the classroom. Students often have miscues when reading; substitutions, omissions, mispronunciation, reversals, and insertions. This benchmark provides information about the students' difficulties. The drawbacks to this system, are that it is geared for kindergarten to grade eight and currently only covers texts A -L. The authors of the system plan to continue revising it until they have covered all texts from A - Z.

**Concepts of Comprehension Assessment**
"This assessment is designed to measure four contributors to reading comprehension: comprehension strategy use, vocabulary strategy use and knowledge, knowledge of informational text features, and comprehension of graphics in the context of text. It is designed for use by classroom teachers, reading specialists, and paraprofessionals to inform instruction, and by researchers to evaluate interventions or examine reading comprehension development", (Duke).

There are two forms of this assessment-Dragonflies and Salmon. The assessments take about 15 minutes to administer and are performed on an individual basis to students you have targeted as a student having reading difficulties.

**Diagnostic Assessment of Reading Instruction**
This assessment tool is a standardized test teachers use to help with the assessment of a student's reading level and instructional plan. The DAR is typically administered on a yearly basis. The test contains nine components: print awareness, phonological awareness, letters and sounds, word recognition, word analysis, oral reading accuracy and fluency, silent reading comprehension, spelling and word meaning. (Cook)

Read more: [|What Is the DAR: Diagnostic Assessment of Reading? | eHow.com] []

The results of the DAR can be used for placement within reading groups, to create targeted lesson plans, as well as being helpful in adult literacy assessments.

Outcome

 * //"Results showed that students in classrooms in which teachers administered the assessment showed greater growth as measured by the comprehension assessment as well as by an assessment of informational writing; this transfer effect is important because it suggests that what students learned was not driven by narrowly teaching to the test",// (//Duke, Pearson,Strachan, & Billman, 2011).//**