Reading Assessment

Why Assess The Intermediate Reader?

"If the teacher's job is to take a child from where he is to where he needs to go in reading, then that teacher must assess the individual."

--Guided Reading
Irene C. Fountas & Gay Su Pinnell

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Questions and Answers Regarding Reading Assessment

What is assessment?

Derived from a Latin term meaning "to sit beside" informal assessment is the process of gathering evidence from students in order to inform and guide our instruction. Ongoing assessment also allows us to document student learning and growth.

What is the MMSD Assessment Philosophy?

• Assessment measures what is valued in student learning.
• Assessment practice is driven by the belief that every person has a continuous capacity to learn.
• Assessment is essential to high-quality instruction. It should inform and be integrated with instruction.
• Assessment requires desire, opportunity, and resources.
• Assessment (formal and informal) are necessary and encouraged in measuring student achievement.

Who can benefit from assessment?

• Students: by matching instruction with appropriate text level
• Teachers: by guiding and targeting instruction
• Parents: by sharing student progress

What do the assessment results communicate?

• Valid information about what students know and can do
• Student's progress and development
• Validation of progress for parents and students

What informal inventory is recommended for assessing students in grades 3-5?

Basic Reading Inventory (BRI)
Jerry L Johns

This is an informal reading inventory used as a diagnostic reading tool for students K-12. In conjunction with the Primary Language Arts Assessment (PLAA), MMSD has adopted the BRI as an extension for primary students reaching a reading level of 2.5. Title 1 administers the BRI to students within their Title schools, grades 3-5. To remain uniform with PLAA and Title I assessment, we recommend classroom teachers use the BRI. This will allow us to use the same data to assess and plan reading instruction for students.

What other inventories could be used?

There are other informal inventories successfully being used throughout MMSD. Two of these include:

The Flynt -Cooter (EERIC-English-Espanol Reading Inventory for the Classroom)
E. Sutton Flynt and Robert B. Cooter, Jr.

Qualitative Reading Inventory II (QRI-II)
Lauren Leslie and JoAnne Caldwell

We encourage each staff to consider their school's particular assessment needs and the purpose for assessment when selecting an infomal inventory.

How do I learn to administer informal assessments?

• Seek out experienced colleagues
• Participate in staff development opportunities
• Contact Language Arts support staff
• Refer to the instructional manuals

Where would I find assessment materials?

• PLAA Kit
• Copies of informal inventories in each school
• Language Arts Office (Doyle)
• Educational Reference Library (Doyle)

How do we use the assessment results?

• To drive the instructional program
• To provide materials at the student's identified instructional level
• To create ongoing flexible groups
• To communicate feedback to teachers, students and parents

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Downloading PLAA Materials

How do I access the PLAA materials?

Materials can be downloaded from this site. Many of the materials will be in PDF form that requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. To download a lesson, just click a specific title. If you already have Acrobat 3.0 installed (and we do mean 3.0), the lesson will appear in your browser window. You can print it from there, or click File— Save to save it to your hard drive. Remember where you save it (you might want to write it down). To view a course handout after it is safely stashed on your hard drive, just double-click the filename (if you have the Acrobat viewer installed, of course).

Just what is PDF, and why would you want your documents in it?

PDF stands for Portable Document Format, and you can read PDF files in Adobe Acrobat no matter what kind of computer you are using. They are also compressed, or 'squeezed' files so they do not take forever to download! And it means that once you download the free Acrobat viewer, you can not only print the course handout quickly and easily, but also view it as it was meant to be seen, fonts, graphics, and all.

What if I do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader?

If you do not have Acrobat 3.0 installed, click the title you want anyway. Your browser should give you some excellent instructions on how to get Acrobat 3.0 from Adobe's Web site. You can also click on the Adobe Web site link, then follow Adobe's instructions to download the program and to set it up. Once you have the viewer, you are ready to download any of our PDF materials.

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We welcome your feedback. Questions or comments can be directed to: Kiett Takkunen, Language Arts Resource Teacher, 266-6024

Language Arts | Teaching and Learning | MMSD

Updatd: Janurary 2, 2002
Editor & Publisher: Jeff Sutherland, jsutherland@madison.k12.wi.us
Language Arts Coordinator: Mary Watson-Peterson, mwatsonpeter@madison.k12.wi.us
webmaster: webmaster@madison.k12.wi.us