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- Studies suggest that measuring student performance and using the data to make program changes produce greater student learning.
- This lesson's purpose is to build an understanding of the different reasons for and methods that can be used to assess student's reading progress and to help guide instruction.
- If instruction does not improve learning, it is not worth continuing.
- Assessment is a process of gathering information to enable decision making. It involves measuring, evaluation, and decision making.
- Students' progress should be continuously assessed to determine if instructional goals are being reached.
- There are four reasons for assessment: to establish a baseline of what the student already knows, to monitor their progress, to inform instructional decisions, and to determine program eligibility.
- With student performance data, teachers can decide whether or not instruction should be changed.
- One of the most important tasks of starting a new school year is to get to know students personally and to identify their strengths and areas of need.
- Important information regarding a student's school, health, and family history can be obtained from the individual's cumulative file.
- Formal assessments are used to measure students' performance on a broad range of skills.
- Formal assessments are used to compare one student's test performance to that of the student's peer group.
- Informal assessments, or curriculum-based assessments, are used to measure students' skills and abilities relative to a curriculum.
- Curriculum-based assessments help teachers assess student learning and the impact of instruction. An example of a curriculum-based assessment is the weekly spelling test.
- Curriculum guides outline the scope and sequence of reading skills thought to be essential for a student to learn to read.
- The process of assessing reading skills involves preparing probes to determine a student's mastery level and to examine how the student applies the skill in reading.
- Probes are tests comprised of a limited number of items. To correctly respond to these items, students must be able to apply a particular skill.
- After assessing a student's reading skill or ability, the teacher must evaluate the data and make instructional decisions in a continuous process of assessing, evaluating, and decision making.
- If a chart indicates student performance is not improving, instruction should be changed.
- Error analysis is the inspection of students' responses to determine if error patterns exist, and if so, why.
- To evaluate the validity of the curriculum, as well as the impact of instruction, students' reading skills and overall reading abilities must be continually assessed.
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