February 2019

Enhancing Our Ability to Assess & Evaluate Student Reading K-2

Goal: Fostering joyful independent readers
“Without engagement, you’ve got nothing.” (In) Formative Assessment Process
(Serravallo J. Reading Strategies, 2015) “Showing them how to read is not the only act we must model for our students to read Formative assessment provides ongoing feedback for understanding and progress to
and enjoy it for the rest of their lives, we must show them what a reading life looks like.” inform adjustments in teaching and learning throughout the entire learning cycle.
Classroom Libraries -Donalyn Miller
Formative assessment improves learning with:
“Books must catch children’s attention, captivate their  Evidence collected and examined on an ongoing basis to make informed decisions
imaginations, & make them want to return to
Triangulation of Data  Specific and descriptive feedback
their pages again and again.” “When evidence is collected from 3 different sources over time, trends and patterns  Information to plan for learning that happens at different rates and is shown in many ways
(Neuman, S.B. Books Make a Difference, 1999) become apparent, and the reliability and validity of classroom assessment is  Specific information and a process to help learners take responsibility for their own
increased.” learning
Quantity
(Davies, A., & Herbst, S. Leading the Way to Assessment for Learning: A Practical Guide, 2012)
 300-600 single and multiple copies of books (Formative Assessment- An Essential Part of a Balanced Assessment Program, New Brunswick)
Examples:
Quality
 Permanent, core collection Conversations Observations Assessment Capable Learners
 Revolving books with themes, holidays, special events
 Diverse texts to learn about themselves and others  Self-assessments  Checklists
 Spans a range of difficulty  Conferring notes  Presentations When students are involved in self-assessment, they provide themselves with regular and
 Variety of genre and form  Interviews  Engagement survey immediate descriptive feedback to guide their learning.
 Interest surveys  Student conversations
(Fountas, I., & Pinell, G.S. Guided Reading, 1996) Assessment capable learners can:
 Understand and articulate expectations
 Set goals
 Describe where they are in relation to criteria
Know Your Readers Student Profile
 Reflect on their learning and the quality of their work
Jennifer Seravallo’s 5 lenses for assessing and teaching Products  Revise and improve the task or performance
readers:
 Journals, reading logs (Davies, A. Self-Assessment and Goal Setting 2nd Edition, 2011 Hattie, Fisher and Frey, Developing Assessment-
 Engagement  Benchmark assessments Capable Visible Learners K-12 , 2018)
)
 Fluency  Exit slips
 Print Work  Videos Evaluation
 Comprehension
"It is important to have a repertoire of ways to assess reading. Standardized tests are not Evaluation is a process of examining the evidence, both qualitative and quantitative, and
 Conversation making an informed professional judgement regarding whether and to what degree
enough. A running record is not enough. A questionnaire about reading interests is not enough. students know, understand, apply and articulate that which is detailed by the standards
“While each lens is important on its own, you’ll get the It is through multiple assessment measures–formal and informal; quantitative and qualitative; or outcomes.
clearest and most complete picture of a student diagnostic, formative, and summative–that we can begin to understand the complexity of a
if you use all 5 lenses together.”  What does the student know, what is the student able to do & what can the student
reader’s process and offer appropriate instruction to meet the reader’s needs.”
(Serravallo, J. Teaching Reading in Small Groups, 2010)
(Serravallo, J. Teaching Reading in Small Groups, 2010) articulate?
 What areas require further attention or development?
Proficient Readers  In what ways can the student’s learning be supported?
 How is the student progressing in relation to the standards or development for students
Proficient readers can: Core Documents in a similar age range?
(Davies, A., Herbst, S., Reynolds, B. P. Leading the Way to Assessment for Learning: A Practical Guide, 2012)
 Activate prior knowledge before, during, and after reading ●ELA Curriculum – identifies the outcomes students need to know and demonstrate
a text
 Determine the most important ideas and themes in a text ● NB Provincial Reading and Writing Standards – describe level of competency Independent Reading Benchmarks
 Create visual and sensory images before, during, and after
reading a text Text has both qualitative & quantitative features. Student motivation, experience, background
● K-2 Look Fors– best practices and balanced literacy components knowledge and understanding of the task will impact whether a text is appropriate.
 Ask questions
 Draw inferences Running records can contribute to evaluation data or be used as a formative assessment tool.
 Retell and synthesize ● Report Card Rubrics-describes level of performance or understanding based on evidence
 Use fix-up strategies when comprehension breaks down collected Report 1 Report 2 Report 3
“Instructional and assessment practices can and should be designed to provide multiple
K A/B B/C
(Keene, E.O. & Zimmermann, S. Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Reading routes to achievement of the outcomes and multiple ways of demonstrating achievement.” 1 C/D/E E/F/G G/H/I
Comprehension in a Reader’s Workshop, 1997) (Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum Elementary K-3) 2 I/J J/K K/L/M