ELD 504: Reading and Writing Assessments

READING AND WRITING
ASSESSMENT PROJECT

ELD 504: Assessment
of English Language
Learners

Learning Team A
December 5, 2011

INTRODUCTION
Assessments can provide the teacher with
information regarding student understanding of the
content being taught. Assessments can also determine
student achievement and areas where they may be
falling behind. It is imperative that assessments be
used to gauge student learning in relation to content
standards. Carefully selected assessments can be used
across curricular areas as they provide organized
and specific criteria relating to the learning
objectives.

Incorporating suitable assessments in reading and
writing is important for students as they are essential
components to communication in the English language. The
following reading and writing assessments are research
based and ef fective ways to accurately and properly assess
student achievement for high school aged students. These
assessments were carefully chosen to meet the guidelines
set forth by the California Department of Education for
English-Language Arts (ELA) Content Standards.

READING ASSESSMENT

Reading assessments are critical for high school students
because information gleaned from informal and formal assessments help
determine the reading abilities and levels of all students in content -rich
academic settings. Reading assessments are used for teacher s to
understand how students obtain information and acquire literacy.
Selected assessments should also take into account students’
back grounds and how students structure and retain new literacy
knowledge (Wren, 2004). Awareness and utilization of various formal and
informal reading strategies inform instructional planning, aiding in the
selection of which skills are best for specific students. Three specific
reading assessments greatly benefit high school students and their
ef for ts to improve their reading skills.

READING FLUENCY: DIBELS

R e a di n g f l u e n c y i s o f te n Because DIBELS is also useful for
m o n i to r i n g t h e e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f r e a d i n g
considered a bridge between word
i n te r v e n t i o n s ( K a m i n s ki a n d G o o d , 1 9 9 6 ,
decoding and comprehension. A
a s c i te d b y B l o m - H o f f m a n , e t a l . , 2 0 0 2 ) ,
f o r m a l a s s e s s m e n t u s e d to m e a s u r e
i t c a n b e a p p l i e d to a ny s t u d e n t
reading fluency is called DIBELS.
acquiring new language skills. By using
D y n a m i c I n d i c a to r s o f B a s i c E a r l y
D I B E L S , i n s t r u c to r s c a n t r a c k i n d i v i d u al
L i te r a c y S k i l l s , o r D I B E L S ( G o o d a n d
students’ progress and their level of
K a m i n s k i , 1 9 9 6 , a s c i te d b y B l o m -
a c h i ev e m e n t . O n c e s t u d e n t s h a v e t h e
H o f f m a n , D w ye r, C l a r ke , a n d Po w e r,
a b i l i t y to d e c o d e w o r d s a c c u r a cy, t h e i r
2 0 0 2 ) , d e s i g n e d to a s s e s s
r e a d i n g f l u e n c y r a te s w i l l i n c r e a s e . S i n c e
p h o n ol o gi c al a n d a l p h a b e t i c
r e a d i n g f l u e n c y i s a l s o a r e q u i s i te s k i l l i n
a w a r e n e s s a n d f l u e n cy, m e a s u r e s a
s o c i al s t u d i e s , s c i e n ce , a n d m a t h ,
b r o a d r a n g e o f i m p o r t a n t e a r l y l i te r a c y
D I B L E L S c a n b e a u s e f u l s t r a te g y to
s k i l ls t h a t a r e p r e d i c to r s o f l a te r
support English language learners (ELLs)
r e a d i n g p r o f i ci e n cy ( R e a d i n g R o c ke t s ,
i n c o n te n t a r e a s o t h e r t h a n E L A s .
2 01 1 a ) .

TOWRE: TEST OF WORD READING
EFFICIENCY

Decoding is a skill needed to grant students access to information

in content area texts as they progress through their academic career s. A

formal assessment to measure students’ ability to decode is the Test of

Word Reading Ef ficiency, or TOWRE ( Torgesen, Wagner, and Tashotte,

1999, as cited in Berninger, Smith, and O’Donnell, 2004). This

assessment is used to help determine students’ ability to decode words

ef ficiently by reading a passage of text as clearly and correctly as

possible. The instructor monitor s student per formance by noting

mistakes made by individual students while reading and decoding words .

This instrument can prove especially helpful in monitoring the progress

of ELLs with their English decoding skills.

PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT

An individual portfolio is an This allows the teacher to
informal way to assess students’ compare and check the
abilities, progress, and progress of students over the
achievements through course of an academic year.
teacher/classroom observations This method can be applied in
and samples of work. Instruction any subject area and is
on how to pick a piece of work to especially effective with ELLs
place in a portfolio is beneficial when monitoring beginning of
for students because it models the year work samples with
reflection of their own work while end of the year progress
encouraging students to take an (Pierce, 2002).
active role in learning information
they feel they have not yet
mastered (Reading Rockets.org,
2011b).

WRITING ASSESSMENT

Writing assessment can be used for a variety of

purposes, such as delivering feedback to students, student

placement, realizing proficiency in a given subject area, and

earning a grade. Because students and educators, more often

than not, are confronted with high stakes academic

accountability, it is paramount assessment protocols are guided

by sound pedagogical principles to insure that they are valid,

fair, and appropriate to the context and purpose for which they

are designed (Conference on College Composition and

Communication, 2009). Formal and informal writing

assessments are used regularly for a variety of reasons to meet

essential criteria for high school students throughout California.

Despite the importance of writing, many high school
students do not learn to write well enough to meet the
demands of school or the workplace. The National Assessment
of Educational Progress revealed that many students do not
develop the competence in writing needed at their respective
grade levels (Persky, Daane& Jin, 2003, as cited in Graham
and Perin, 2007). These findings support why it is critical
for classroom teachers to instruct and perform regular
informal writing assessment to meet the needs of students.
Authentic assessment measures are performance-based, and
should be used to guide instruction (Evaluation
Springboard.org, 2006).

Directions: Label each part of the essay using a
different colored pen.

Authentic assessments benefit students best when they
are utilized across the curriculum. Summaries, journaling, quick-
writes, rewriting a story, and letter-writing are some examples of
well-designed activities that provide teachers with fast authentic
assessments of student performance. A variety of writing rubrics
are available from reliable sources that can assist teachers and
students before, during, and after writing activities. It is also
suggested that peer editing be utilized to provide interaction among
students. Students often benefit from reading, editing, and
r rewriting one another’s work.

FRAMED PARAGRAPHS AND ESSAYS

Framed writing models are Frames can be used at the
graphic organizers that offer beginning, middle, and end of
students a solid framework in which instruction to make content-area
to write paragraphs and essays. The learning more motivating and
instructor-provided frame guides meaningful. Frames can also be
students through a formal writing utilized across disciplines to develop
structure while making available literacy and thinking skills (Ellis,
scaffolding for writing skills like 1998).
transitional sentences and
compound-complex syntax (Reading
Rockets, 2011).

REVISION

Revising one’s writing is a way to learn about the craf t of
writing. Learning to revise teaches students about the characteristics
of good writing, which will help to improve the quality of their future
writing. Revision skills complement reading skills and require that
writers distance themselves from their writing in order to critically
evaluate their own work (Reading Rockets, 2011c). It is impor tant to
instill good revision practices in young writers because it gives them
an oppor tunity for reflection about their process. Peer editing has
proven to be a successful way to help students develop revision skills
(Graham & Harris, 2007, as cited by Reading Rockets, 2011c). This is
par ticularly true when peer groups have explicit goals for revision
(MacAr thur, 2007, as cited by Reading Rockets, 2011c).

WRITING CONFERENCES

Re s e arc h o n t h e w ri t i n g D o n a ld G rave s ( 1 9 8 2 ) i de n t i fied s i x

pro c e s s a dvo c a tes t h a t w ri te r s l e a rn c h a ra c te rist ic s o f s uc c e s s ful w ri t i n g

m o s t e f fi c i ent ly a bo ut w ri t i n g w h e n c o n fe re nc es. Co n fe re nc es s h o ul d: ( a )

t h ey s h a re a n d re fl e c t o n t h e i r h ave a pre di c t a bl e s t ruc t ure ; ( b)

w ri t i n g. In c l a s s rooms, t h i s i s m o s t fo c us o n a few po i n t s ; ( c )

c o m m only do n e t h ro ug h w ri t i n g de m o nst ra te s o l ut i ons to s t ude n t s '

c o n fe re nc es a s pa r t o f t h e rev i s ion pro bl e ms; ( d) pe rm i t ro l e reve r s als;

s t a g e. Wh et h e r t h ey o c c ur w i t h pa i r s , ( e ) e n c o ura g e us e o f a vo c a bul ar y

w i t h s m a ll g ro ups , o r w i t h t h e a ppro pri a te fo r w ri t i n g ; a n d ( f)

te a c h er, t h e s o c i al be n e fi t s o f s h a ri ng s t i mula te pl e a s ure i n w ri t i n g . M o s t

w ri t i n g i m proves w ri t i n g ( Re a di ng te a c h er s us e s o m e va ri a t io n o f t h e s e

Ro c ket s, 2 01 1 d) . c h a ra c te rist ic s i n t h e i r c l a s sro oms

a c ro s s t h e c urri c ul um .

CONCLUSION

Assessing the reading and writing abilities of students is
an essential part of the learning process. Assessments are
done at every level of the learning process. The reasons for
assessments are to identify skills that need review, monitor
student progress, guide teacher instruction,

demonstrate the ef fectiveness of instruction,

and provide teachers with information on how

instruction can be improved.

Both instructor and student
can provide a more
benefit from the results of initial and
well-rounded picture
ongoing assessment. Educators are
of their skills, abilities,
able to design instruction to meet the
and ongoing progress.
individual needs of their students.
Educators can design immediate
Ongoing informal assessments are
instruction based on the results of
particularly important for English
informal assessment. Mastering
Language Learners. Informal
reading and writing skills are extremely
assessments (partner reading, class
important because they are used in
discussion, role-playing,
every subject area. Achieving these
brainstorming, etc.)
skills at every level of learning helps
students to be successful life-long
learners.

REFERENCES

 Berninger, V., Smith, D.R., & O’Donnell, L. (2004). Research-
suppor ted assessment-intervention links for reading and
writing. National Association of School Psychologists.
Retrieved from www.ldonline.org/article574/.
 Blom-Hof fman, J., Dwyer, J.F., Clarke, A .T., & Power, T.J.
(2002). Strategies for conducting outcome evaluations of
early inter vention literacy programs. National Association of
School Psychologists. Retrieved from
www.readingrockets.org/articles/577/.
 Conference on College Composition and Communication
(2009). Writing Assessment: A position statement . Retrieved
fromwww.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/writingassessm
ent.

REFERENCES (CONT.)

 Ellis, E.S.(1998). Framing main ideas and essential details to
promote comprehension . Tuscaloosa, AL: Masterminds.
 Evaluation Springboard (2006). Selected methods: Assessments.
Rockman et al & EdVenture Group. Retrieved from
http://www.evaluationspringboard.org/assessments.html?&lang
= en_us&output=json&session -id=5fcabef1be960952
ace1b3a302aae4e3.
 Good, R. H., & Kaminski, R. A. (1996). Assessment for
instructional decisions: Toward a proactive/prevention model of
decision-making for early literacy skills. School Psychology
Quar terly, 11, 326−336.
 Graham, S. & Harris K. (2007). Best practices in teaching
planning. In S. Graham, C. MacArthur, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.) Best
practices in writing instruction . New York: Guilford
 Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). A meta -analysis for writing
instruction for adolescent students. Journal of Educational
Psychololgy,99 (3) pp. 445-476.
 Graves, D. (1982). Six guideposts to a successful writing
conference. Learning, 11(4), 76-77

REFERENCES (CONT.)

 Kaminski, R. A ., & Good, R. H. (1996). Toward a technology for
assessing basic early literacy skills. School Psychology
Review, 25, 215-227.
 MacArthur, C. (2007). Best practices in teaching evaluation
and revision. In S. Graham, C. MacArthur, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.)
Best practices in writing instruction . New York: Guilford.
 Persky, H. R., Daane, M. C., & Jin, Y. (2003). The nation’s
repor t card: Writing 2002. (NCES 2003–529). U.S.
Department of Education. Institute of Education Sciences.
National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC:
Government Printing Of fice.
 Pierce, L. V. (2002). Performance -based assessment:
Promoting achievement for English language learners.
ERIC/CLL News Bulletin, 24 ,(1), pp. 1-3.

REFERENCES (CONT.)

 Reading Rockets (2011a). Classroom strategies. Washington,
D.C.: WETA. Retrieved from www.readingrockets.org/
strategies/.
 Reading Rockets (2011b). Types of informal classroom-based
assessment: Por tfolios. Washington D.C.: WETA . Retrieved
from www.readingrocket.org/article/3412/.
 Reading Rockets (2011c). Classroom strategies: Revision .
Washington, D.C.: WETA. Retrieved from
www.readingrockets.org/strategies/revision .
 Reading Rockets (2011d).Classroom strategies: Writing
conferences. Washington, D.C.: WETA. Retrieved from
www.readingrockets.org/strategies/writing_conferences .

REFERENCES (CONT.)

 Torgesen, J.K., Wagner, R. K., & Rashotte, C.A . (1999). Test of
Word Reading Efficiency. Austin, TX: PRO-ED Publishing, Inc.
 Weaver, B. (2011). Formal versus informal assessment.
Scholastic Teachers. Retrieved from http://
www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/formal -versus-informal-
assessments?&lang=en_us&output= json&session-
id=5fcabef1be960952ace1b3a302aae4e3.
 Wren, S. (2004, November). Descriptions of early reading
assessments. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.
Retrieved from
www.balancedreading.com/assessment/assessment.pdf.

IMAGES

 Microsoft Clip art gallery
 MisterElements (2011). Notebook sketch doodle clip .
ShutterStock.com. Retrieved from
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic -64796410/stock-vector-
notebook-sketch-doodle-clip-art-design-flower-speech-bubbles-
elements-vector-illustration-set.html.
 Tatsumi67 (2009). Notebook paper must be stopped . Deviant
Art.com. Retrieved from http://tatsumi67.deviantart.com /
art/Notebook-Paper-Must-Be-Stopped-116237037

ELD 504: Reading and Writing Assessments

More Related Content

Similar to ELD 504: Reading and Writing Assessments

Recently uploaded

ELD 504: Reading and Writing Assessments