A Whole School Approach to Literacy Assessment

Literacy for All

A WHOLE OF SCHOOL APPROACH TO LITERACY ASSESSMENT

Jane FarrallSpeech Pathologist, Spectronics

Chris LennonPrincipal, Willans Hill School

2010 – The Beginning

AGOSCI Literacy Intensive

Willans Hill School

• Special School in Wagga Wagga, NSW• 69 students, 9 classes

Design

• BIG Thanks to Karen Erickson• Random selection of 3 students in each class for

assessment by Jane• Two day workshop on Four Blocks to all staff end of

2010• 2 hour literacy block in every classroom, every day,

throughout 2011• Continuing and individual professional learning for

staff throughout the year.• Repeat assessments at end of 2010

Which Assessments?

• Considered....– Qualitative Reading Inventory 3– Neale Analysis of Reading Ability– Assessment of Phonological Awareness in Reading– The Bridge Structured Emergent Literacy

Assessment Portfolio– Universally Accessible Emergent Literacy Battery

Emergent Literacy

The research and theoretical developments of the last decade have dramatically altered how we view young children's movement into literacy (Teale & Sulzby, 1986). The term literacy relates to both reading and writing and suggests the simultaneous development and mutually reinforcing effects of these two aspects of communication. Literacy development is seen as emerging from children's oral language development and their initial, often unconventional attempts at reading (usually based on pictures) and writing (at first, scribbling) -- hence the term emergent literacy. Within an emergent literacy framework, children's early unconventional attempts at reading and writing are respected as legitimate beginnings of literacy.

The Bridge Structured Emergent Literacy Assessment

Portfolio

Universally Accessible Emergent Literacy Battery (UAELB)

Formal Literacy

• Traditional reading and writing behaviours

Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI)

Neale Analysis of Reading Ability

Assessment of Phonological Awareness in Reading

Training

Selection Process

• Each teacher selected 3 students• Were asked to select student with highest

literacy skills, then middle, then lowest• These students were assessed by Jane• Assessment results mostly reflected that

teachers had selected correctly – but not always!

Remaining Students

• Assessed by their own teacher• Time release provided to enable this to

happen• Teachers found this incredibly valuable• Results cannot be included in inferential

statistics

UAELB

• Concepts About Print• Letter Identification• Phonological Awareness• Writing

Concepts About Print

Letter Identification

F KA

Letter Identification

h ob

Initial Consonant Recognition

Rhyme Recognition

Phoneme Blending

Writing

a abkeadp

Writing sample from a student using an alphabet flip chart as her pencil.

QRI-3

• 3 subtests:– Word Identification– Reading Comprehension– Literacy Comprehension

• Allows us to determine the focus of intervention

Language Comprehension

Word Identification

Silent Reading Comprehension

Print Processing Beyond Word Identification

(Slide from Erickson and Koppenhaver, 2010)

Word Identification

• Can the student identify words accurately?• Can the student identify words automatically?

Adaptation for people with CCN

• Centre for Literacy and Disability Studies has developed a version of the word ID task for people with CCN

can cot

canecare

Reading Comprehension

• Ask student to read a passage• Ask them a series of questions• Adapted to multiple choice for students with

CCN

Lost and Found

I lost my cat.Where was she?I looked inside the house.I looked under the bed.I looked outside too. I lost my dog.Where was he?I looked inside the house.I looked under the bed.I looked outside too. I found my cat.I found my dog.Where were they?They were in the same place.They were under the table.

Lost and Found Questions

• What did the person in the story lose?• What else did the person in the story lose?• Where did the person in the story look?• Where else did the person in the story look?• Where did the person find the dog or cat?

Lost and Found Questions

1. What did the person in the story lose?DogBedHouseBall

Listening Comprehension

• You read a passage• Ask them a series of questions• Adapted to multiple choice for students with

CCN

Results

Assessments

• 64 of 69 students assessed• 32 students assessed by Jane• 32 students assessed by others

Assessment UsedFormal and Emergent

UAELB/Emergent QRI3/Formal0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Assessments Used

QRI3 Results

Word ID highest or equal highest

Reading Comp highest or equal highest

Listening Comp highest or equal highest

0

5

10

15

20

25

Series 1

Other points

So…what have we been doing?

• Emergent literacy intervention• Four Blocks

Emergent Literacy

• Giving every student a pencil• Providing a literacy rich environment• Ensuring links between environment and print

are constantly reinforced• Alphabet books• Phonological awareness activities, particularly

for students with Complex Communication Needs (CCN)

Writing with flip chart

Cdn ioy ddn ddn

• Writing sample above from student using a flip chart.

• Verbal version of this was “Cody is drumming”

• Show good emerging skills as he has included salient sounds.

The Four Blocks

Guided Reading

• Primary purposes are to assist students to:– Understand that reading involves thinking and

meaning-making.– Become more strategic in their own reading.

• Must use a wide variety of books and other print materials.

Self-selected reading• Primary purposes are to assist students to:

– Understand why they might want to learn.– Become automatic in skill application.– Choose to read after they learn how.

• It isn’t self-directed if you don’t choose it yourself.

• You can’t get good at it if it is too difficult.

Writing

• Students who write become better readers, writers and thinkers.

• Learn in classroom writing communities:– Write for real reasons– See others do so– Interact with peers and teachers about written

content, use and form.

Working with Words• Primary purpose is to help students become

strategic in reading words.• Make words instruction:– Words based– Experience based– Age-appropriate

• Should result in students who read and write– More– More successfully and independently– With greater enjoyment

Literacy for All

• It is reasonable to assume that all children come to school with the dispositions to learn and to make the best sense they can of their experience, even though they might never have been read to, heard a story, looked at a book or held a pencil, or otherwise become “ready” for school (Katz, 1997).

Media