a whole school approach to literacy assessment
DESCRIPTION
Presentation for the Australian Association of Special Education Conference, 2011TRANSCRIPT
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