This document provides information about administering the Early Primary Reading Assessment (EPRA), also known as "Baby DART", to students in grades K-3. It outlines the components of the EPRA including using a common text, a question and answer sheet for students, conferencing with students individually, and scoring student responses using a rubric. The document discusses the assessment protocol, configurations for administering it in the classroom, who can help with administration, and collecting and analyzing the assessment data. The overall purpose of the EPRA is to gather reading performance data on students to inform future instruction.

1. EPRA
EARLY PRIMARY READING ASSESSMENT
aka “Baby DART”

2. Topics this afternoon
• Assessment pilot
• Response to Intervention
• EPRA components
• EPRA protocol
• EPRA scoring

3. Pilot Timeline
Activity Projected Dates
• Instructional Coordinators trained on assessment options and prepare overviews
for principals/school staffs
September 9-13
(afternoons only)
• Instructional Coordinators partner w/ principals to share overviews for staff review.
Schools identify assessment tool to pilot.
September 16 - October 11
• Assessment and marking completion. September 16 – November 29
• Teacher Survey completed and submitted. December 20

4. How will the district-wide assessments
for 2014-2015 be chosen?
• Usefulness of data to inform instruction and intervention
at the whole group, small group, and individual level.
• Usefulness of data to facilitate collaboration.
• Usefulness of data for instructional decisions at the
class, school and district level.
• Implementation capacity (costs, time).

5. Assessment
Universal screeners Who requires intensive supports
CFAs Mastery of essentials at Tier 1
Diagnostics Why are students at risk
Progress monitoring Response to Tier 2 and 3

6. Why Universal Screening?
to help identify students in need of
more time and support
to help monitor the effectiveness
of Tier 1 instruction Buffman, Mattos, Weber

7. Why formative assessment?
Formative assessment gives us the information and
the opportunity to adjust our instruction as we go.

8. Why a common formative
assessment?
Collaborative Teacher Teams
Respond collectively
Group students by need
Determine results of various forms of
instruction

9. Why a Common Formative
Assessment?
“Assessment for learning . . . is one of the most
powerful, high-leverage strategies for improving
student learning that we know of.
(Fullan, 2006, p. 71)
“Studies have demonstrated assessments for
learning rivals one-on-one tutoring in its
effectiveness, and that the use of assessment
particularly benefits low-achieving students.”
(Stiggins, 2007, p. 27)

10. Questions?

11. K-3 Options
• Early Primary Reading Assessment (EPRA)
• Early Learning Profile (ELP)
• NLPS Screener

12. EPRA
• AKA: “Baby Dart”
• Developed in
British Columbia
• Non-fiction Text focus

13. Why EPRA?
• “The EPRA is based on the belief that
primary students need to think and
comprehend when they are reading; that
reading includes decoding and fluency, but
must also include comprehension, even in
the earliest primary grades.”
• “It is an assessment FOR learning using
non-fiction texts.” Faye Brownlie

14. What To Expect
From fayebrownlie.ca

15. Components
Each grade
level kit
contains:
Q and A Sheet
for students
Protocol for
teachers
Common text
for students
Conference
sheet for
teachers
Scoring quick
scale rubric
and worksheet

16. Common Text
Protocol ensures that
“all children are led through an
experience to build background
knowledge prior to reading their
own copy of the same text”
To assess non-fiction “reading for
information” at each grade level
Fall common text: assessment for
learning
Spring common text: assessment of
learning
Also available are leveled texts -
students to choose a “just right” text
- for use in between Fall and Spring
assessments
The EPRA uses a common
text for all students at
each grade level:

17. Protocol
Group
• Set the purpose for reading and listening
• Activate schema, pre-reading
Student
• Interact with the text individually
• “Q & A Sheet” reading response
Conference
• Oral reading / running record
• Comprehension reading conference

18. Time
Group
• Setting the stage
• Approx. 10 minutes
• Easily done at carpet or “Story Time”
Student
• Interact with book individually, at the same time
• Approx. 10-15 minutes to look at the book
• And to draw/write on the Q & A sheet
Conference
• Individual, student with teacher
• Variable – 10-20 minutes per student suggested
• Can be done during Centres or Reading Time

19. Classroom Teachers
 be familiar with the protocol for your grade level in order to
 decide how to administer the assessment in your classes
 organize the class, materials and supporting personnel
accordingly
 consider the needs of your students
Protocol suggests completing the conference portion
with the help of at least one additional teacher.

20. Configurations
1:1
conference
1:1
conference
1:1
conference
Whole class interacts
with text and Q & A
sheet while team
pulls students for 1:1
conference from the
whole group.
Whole
group

21. Configurations
Divide class into
small
groups with team
members
to complete all
assessment
components

22. Who can help?
• School-based staff and classroom teachers
decide how to administer the EPRA in their
classrooms & determine what school staff is
available to do so
• Request EPRA materials from Instructional
Coordinators
• ICs are available to support administering the
assessment & additional personnel if
requested and available

23. Protocol: Group Pre-Reading
Protocol includes a script to follow:
• Set the purpose for the activity including the
order of events
• Activate schema
• Share predictions
• Picture walk
• Introduce new vocabulary from the book

24. Protocol: Group Instructions
Protocol includes a script to follow:
• Introduce the Question and Answer sheet
• Set purpose for reading and how to use the
response paper
• Ensure students know what their job is as well as
what the teacher’s job is
• Distribute books and Q & A sheets
• Suggests waiting approximately 5 minutes before
beginning to meet with students individually

25. Q and A Sheet
• At each grade level
• For each student
• Draw and/or write about what they have read
• Conference includes a question specific to the
Q & A sheet
• Elicits student thinking about main
idea/details, and questions (see rubric)

26. Miscue Record Sheet
• Running record notation is in the protocol
sheets
• Each grade has a specific word count for the
miscue analysis, reproduced on the sheet
• Includes word strategies and sense strategies
to take note of during the reading
• Gr. 2 and 3 assess fluency of reading explicitly
• K and 1 assess fluency based on SD71 rubric

27. Conference
• 1:1
• Question and answer
• Recording sheet for each student
• Questions elicit student thinking about
retelling/main idea & detail, prediction,
connection, opinion/engagement, word
strategies (varies)
• Questions are not aligned across the grades

28. Scoring
• EPRA designed for use with Quick Scale
Performance Standards, Gr. 1, 2, 3; no direct
correlation
• SD 68 Pilot: Use SD 71 developed rubrics for
K, 1, 2, 3
• Apply holistically – if a student reveals a skill
or response at any time orally or in writing =
include
• Copy 1 rubric per student

29. Adapted from SD 71 with permission

32. FALL GRADE THREE

33. Collecting the Data
• Gather Q & A, conference responses and
rubric for each student
• An Excel spreadsheet will be provided to
collect data by class (to follow)

34. Looking Ahead
→Teacher teams will discuss and use
assessment data to plan instruction and
intervention
→Instructional Coordinators can support
teacher teams and individual teachers
→Spring assessment is optional*

35. Questions?