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Using Assessment to Inform Instruction: Cautions &
Recommendations
Karen Wixson, Univ. of Michigan
Sheila Valencia. Univ. of Wash.
IRA, Toronto, May, 2007
Why should we be cautious when using test scores to guide
instruction?
Problems with Test Scores
• Teaching the test
• The issue of standards--alignment?
• Ceilings and floors
• Masking individual differences
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Year
Percentile Rank
MathReading
0102030405060708090
CT SC TN TX NY IL
State
NAEP Scores vs State Scores
NY Times 11/05
Ceilings and Floors
Johnny can’t read because Johnny needs phonics
By Harold Hochstatter
Chairman of Senate Education Committee
Seattle Times
Op Ed, Feb. 25, 1998
% Wd Id
Mng Flu
Auto Wd Callers 18 + + -- -- + + Strug Wd Callers 15 -- -- ++ Wd Stumblers 17 -- + -- Slow Comprehend 24 + + + -- Slow Wd Callers 17 + -- -- Disabled Rders 9 -- -- -- -- -- --
Word Id Comp. Vocab Fluency
Sandy Tomas Trang Sandy
Trang Trang Joey Martin
Jesse Andrew Andrew Jesse Jesse
H & T%ile
CWPM
Acc(%)
Rate(wpm)
Exp.(1-4)
ITBS(NCE)
Dibels
>75 151140
8999
169142
34
7048
No riskNo risk
50-74 118128
9493
126137
23
4264
No riskNo risk
25-49 9097
9396
9799
23
4536
Some riskSome risk
0-24 8845
9496
9447
21
6631
At riskAt risk
Grade 4 Student Profiles
What does all this mean?
• We can’t trust any single piece of information to screen perfectly or guide instructional decisions
• Need an inquiry approach to using assessment information
What is an Inquiry Approach?
• All assessment info is viewed as a “springboard” to understanding student learning--not as static “facts”
• We need to use easily accessible information and questions to help figure out where to go with instruction
Easily Available Information
• State/district test results
• WCPM
• Running Records
• Writing samples
• Spelling tests/samples
How do we use this information?
• Look at available evidence together
• Check to see if information is consistent– With itself– With classroom evidence– With teacher judgment
Asking Questions
• If ALL evidence points to student doing well, ask what, if any, confirming information is needed to plan instruction
• If ALL evidence points to problems, ask what additional information is needed to plan instruction
• If evidence is inconsistent, ask what might be going on and what information is needed to clarify before planning instruction
Ongoing Questioning
• With each additional piece of information ask: Does this fit with what we already know about the student?– If yes, do we have all the information we
need to plan instruction – If not, generate and test hypotheses about
what’s going on
How do we get more information easily?
• High utility assessments– IRI or IRI-like procedures– Running Records
• Work samples/observations– Writing– Spelling– Oral language
The Many Uses of IRI-like Procedures
• Much more than a set of scores• Qualitative Analyses
– Comprehension• Oral reading, silent reading, listening • Literal and inferential comprehension questions• Retellings
– Word recognition• Comparison of word rec in and out of context• Word rec strategies
– Vocabulary– Fluency
Probing Retelling/Comp Performance
• Write/tell about the story you just read in your own words.
• The following sentences tell you something about the story you just read. Read (listen to) them and write/tell some more about the story.
• Place a check next to each idea that you think was in the story you just read.
Probing Strategy Usagewith Think Aloud
S: (reads title) Space Ship EarthT: What were you thinking when you read the
title?S: A space trip to earth. (Reads text haltingly).
Boy! I had a lot of trouble with that.T: What makes you think you had trouble?S: I kept messing up.T: What do you mean by messing up?
Think Aloud (cont’d)
S: I kept reading sentences over.
T: What do you think caused you to read over like that?
S: Not understanding it.
T: OK, did any of the words give you trouble?
S: No
Pursuing Leads
S: Harry lik..liked to walk to the store. He like to hop on the ker, cr, crub, crub, kir, crib, crib.. (22 sec on word)
S: “Mom is teaching me the sound of the letters but there’s all kinds of sounds for the u”
T: I can hear that you are trying some outS: (Spontaneously goes on trying to sound out
word), cube, kirb, crub, cr.. T: The word is curbS: Well, I would expect a er there because we
have a chart in class that has the er sound…
Probing Word Recognition
Reader Text AnalysisCould/cloud clouds SC; uses mng/syn
Then/tundra/ tundraherds
Thunder-heads
multisyllabic;uses grapho-phonic
motorless motionless Multi; suffix
Torn/tornado tornado SC; using mng.
Unc/oncing oncoming Multi; prefix
Probing Vocabulary
• Observe performance on voc questions; add/ask new voc questions
• Observe oral reading errors for evidence of words not in speaking voc
• Probe understanding of words that are questionable--ask for synonyms, use in sentence, etc.
Example Student #1
• Grade 4– WCPM 140– ITBS 48NCE
• Inconsistent information leads us to ask: Why might a student who is so fast (fluent) have such low comprehension?
Student 1 Follow-up
• Informal Reading Inventory– Accuracy--99%– Expression--4 (very fluent)– Passage comp--below grade level
• What next?– Listening comprehension – Vocabulary questions
Student #1--Results and What to try?
• Listening comp and voc OK (classic word caller)
• SLOW DOWN
• If that doesn’t work try comp and/or monitoring strategies
Example Student #2
• Grade 4 ESL student– WCPM, 117 (low risk)– Comp/state test, <second grade– Writing sample--below proficient
• Inconsistent info leads us to ask: Why might a student who is low risk on wcpm perform poorly on comprehension and writing?
Student #2 Follow-up
• Informal Reading Inventory– Word rec in context, second grade– Expression, 2.5 (borderline disfluent)
• No evidence of monitoring for meaning
• What next?– Vocabulary– Oral language
Student #2--Results and What to try?
• Low voc and oral English
• Try:– Second grade materials that are
interesting/familiar– Exposure to grade level content to build
background– Instruction in decoding, vocab, and
monitoring for meaning
Example Student #3
• Grade 2 student– WCPM, 73 (some risk)– ITBS, 80NCE
• Inconsistent information leads us to ask: Why might a student who is struggling with oral reading fluency do so well in comprehension?
Student #3 Follow-up
• Informal Reading Inventory– Acc, 97%– Expression, 3 (fluent)
• What next? Why?– Isolated word rec– Rate with repeated readings
Student #3--Results and What to try?
• Isolated word rec low--classic slow kid
• Decoding in context is much better than decoding out of context
• Reading is very slow
• Hyp--needs word rec work and practice, practice, practice
Student #4
• Grade 2– WCPM, 90 (low risk)– ITBS, 39NCE– Spelling--still emergent
• Questions: Why might someone with this rate not do better in comp? What does poor spelling say about word rec?
Student #4 Follow-up
• Informal Reading Inventory– Accuracy, 87%, grade level passages– Rate, 102– Expression, 1 (non-fluent)
• What next?– Listening comp– Voc– Sight vocab/decoding
Student #4--Results and What to try?
• Listening comp and voc high
• Sight words/decoding low
• Over-relying on context so try– Word rec instruction (both sight words and
decoding strategies)– Use first grade materials that are less
familiar
In Closing
We often spend more time giving and scoring tests and less time thinking about the information we have
Instead, we need to spend more time thinking about the information we have and the additional information we need
Oral Reading Think Aloud
S: (reads title) Space Ship EarthT: What were you thinking when you read
the title?S: A space trip to earth. (reads haltingly)
Boy! I had a lot of trouble with this.T: What makes you think you had
trouble?S: I kept messing up.
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