The document discusses education law and reading assessments. It notes that the No Child Left Behind Act mandated closing the achievement gap for all students, including those with disabilities. Effective reading instruction and targeted assessments are important to address core weaknesses, especially in foundational reading skills. Both formal and informal assessments provide teachers information to guide reading instruction. Long-term assessments allow ongoing monitoring of student progress and whole-student instruction, while short-term assessments provide periodic snapshots of reading levels to group students. Key components of an effective reading program include phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and phonemic awareness.

1. Education and the lawIn 2001, the Federal Government mandated that states attempt to close the academic achievement gap, also known as No Child Left Behind Act. Children with disabilities have scored among the low achiever for academic success when administered standardized tests. In order to bridge this gap, we must first look at the general education curriculum.(1) All children must be given the opportunity to develop skills required to be academically successful within the general education curriculum. Since reading is the foundation skill for all learning , it is essential that children with disabilities receive targeted and effective instruction that addresses their core weaknesses in reading (Lloyd, 2005).

2. The type of assessment that informs instruction does not necessarily need to be a formal reading test that was purchased from a publisher, although it certainly can be. Assessment can be a simple observation of a child's behavior when writing; it can be an observation of how well a child plays a word game; it can be an observation of a child's oral reading fluency. Every observation has the potential to be an assessment.It is a good idea, however, to combine teacher observations with more formal and objective assessment information -- the two complement each other, and give the teacher a much better informed picture.

3. Since reading is the foundational skill for all learning, lets take a look at assessment tools.

4. Before one can assess, you must first look at what you want to assess. During teacher team meetings, or during grade conference meetings you can use this form to assess your reading program. You will become more focused as to what and how effective your reading program is. This form can help guide the meetings.

5. Assessment:The short and The longShort-term Fast and Quick Snap shot of student levelsGrouping according to levelsUses series of leveled booksDoesn’t allow for ongoing instructionAssesses the student periodicallyLong-termWhile long –term assessments basically asks the same questions of short term assessments, the big difference here is what you do with the results from the assessments.Long-term assessments gives you the students reading accuracy level, fluency level, comprehension level, and can provide vocabulary level. With long-term assessments, the teacher is able to instruct the whole student instead of working on the area or areas in which the student needs to build.Key here is that long-term assessments are on going. It gives both the student and teacher direction. Long-term assessments allows the teacher and student to monitor progress.

6. Don’t get me wrong, both types of assessments require that the teacher does their part. Teachers must be consistent in scheduling and organization.

7. Keys to an Effective Reading Program Phonics - Vocabulary – understanding words on text or oral language.Fluency – ability to read text automatically and without effort.Comprehension – the ability to get meaning from textPhonemic Awareness – the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate sounds in spoken wordsAccording to the National Reading PanelComponents of an Effective Reading Program

8. Our inquiry began because the school had 51% of the students reading below grade.

9. Before one can assess, you must first look at why you want to assess. If you want to have a quick look at what skills your students are strong in, and what skills need to be build upon, then short-term assessments will work here. Its quick, fast and for the most part, you put the scores away until you need them again, (usually in another 5-6 months). Short-term assessments, can determine students’ reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension levels, as this will allow you to group students accordingly for instruction.