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Chapter 2: Assessing Early Literacy Development to Design Instruction

Chapter Objectives Learn what authentic assessment is and be able to identify some measures. Learn the nature of standardized tests and standardized testing. Learn what is meant by high-stakes assessment. Learn the pros and cons of authentic assessment and standardized measurement. Learn standards for early literacy development. Learn how to tie standards and instruction together. Learn the difference between standardized and standards-based testing practices.

Chapter OverviewThis chapter deals with the critical issues of standards-based instruction and assessment in

early childhood classrooms. How to teach in a standards-based curriculum is addressed, as well as assessing the needs of children. Assessment must be sensitive to children’s different backgrounds and abilities. Authentic, standards based and standardized assessment strategies will be discussed. This chapter will serve as an introduction to basic assessment instruments. Practical applications for assessment of children’s performance will be discussed in all chapters that deal with the different skills and instructional strategies.

Teaching Suggestions1) Vocabulary: Discuss and define the important vocabulary in this chapter: authentic assessment, running record, informal reading inventory, standardized tests, high-stakes assessment, and standards.

2) Lecture about AssessmentPresent and explain the National Reading Panel Report and its ramifications for assessment (transparency, ELMO, smart board, or other electronic projection device, pg.4–5, 26).Present and explain the NCLB Act and its ramifications for assessment (transparency, ELMO, smart board, or other electronic projection device, pg.21, 26–28)..Introduce the background of and purpose for the Standards Movement. (transparency, ELMO, smart board, or other electronic projection device, pg. 48).Provide information about your state Core Curriculum Standards.Provide information about state mandated standardized testing (transparency, ELMO, smart board, or other electronic projection device, pg.45–48).

3) Student Panel about AssessmentIn advance, divide the chapter amongst panel members. Each panel member will do the following:

o Summarize the reading.o Include a statement about theory reflected in the reading.


o Reflect upon one issue that is controversial or has special meaning as a prospective or practicing teacher.

o Pose a question about the issues in the chapter that will foster a lively discussion.

4) Whole Class Discussion about Pros and Cons of AssessmentDefine authentic assessment.Present examples of authentic assessment measures, formal and informal assessments including audio-taping, pencil and paper tests, running records, portfolios, and informal reading inventories.Explain the purpose and features of standardized tests.Have a debate with a quarter of the class presenting the pros of authentic assessment and a quarter of the class presenting the cons.Have a debate with a quarter of the class presenting the pros of standardized testing and a quarter of the class presenting the cons.

5) Small Group Activity about Standards-based Lessons Divide students into groups of three or four.Have each group pick one literacy standard from the state curriculum and design a lesson to meet the requirement.Ask each group to summarize and share their lesson with the class.

6) Small Group Activity about Assessment Present students with this vignette:

Mai, a first-grade student, scores in the 99th percentile in all areas of her district’s year-end assessment. She presents herself as a mature and responsible student and is often the leader in the class. Students frequently turn to her for help with classroom activities. When thinking ahead for the next year, her teacher decides to recommend that Mai skip a grade and enter the third grade in September. What are your thoughts on this decision?

1 – strongly agree 2 – somewhat agree 3 – somewhat disagree 4 – strongly disagree Form groups based on responses 1, 2, 3, or 4. Ask each group to create a rationale for the chosen answer. Ask a representative from each group to share the group’s ideas.

7) Small Group Activity about AssessmentPresent students with this scenario:

Parents in your district are not pleased with the authentic measures for assessment being used. They want to know if their children are doing as well as others. Based on a test, they want to know if their child is above, below, or at grade level. You are convinced that authentic assessment is the right way to evaluate children. What can you do to help parents understand and accept the authentic assessment strategies?

Ask the class to break into pairs. Discuss the scenario and record some possible solutions. Post suggestions volunteered by pairs on the board.


8) Modeled Lesson about Assessment

Objectives: Students will have the opportunity to participate in a lesson about assessment, gain an understanding of a rubric, develop a rubric for journal entries, and utilize a rubric to assess their journal entries.

Materials: Students will need chart paper divided into four sections, markers, two to three journal entries from a child on a PowerPoint slide, five copies of two to three journal entries of a child that reflect a range of proficiency, students own journals, and pencils.

Activity:Explain that students will be working together to decide on a way to evaluate their own journal entries. Introduce the term “rubric.”Show students the chart paper, which has been divided into four sections. In the first section write the number”4.” Explain that a journal entry that has “everything it needs” would be given a four. Work together to decide upon expectations for that type of entry. Be sure to include expectations for illustrations, spaces between words, illustration to text match, letter formations, etc.Write a number “3” in the next box. Explain that this type of journal entry would meet most of the expectations. Work together to describe this type of journal entry.Move on to describe a “2” and “1.”Using the PowerPoint, display one of the journal entries. Use the established rubric model to evaluate that entry. Follow the same procedure for the other PowerPoint slides.Explain that the students will work in groups to evaluate more journal entries. Divide the class into five groups and provide each group with the copies of children’s journal entries. As the groups work together, circulate and assist students in utilizing the rubric. After each group has completed the task, reconvene as a class and share assessment results. Have students find their last journal entry and utilize the rubric to assess their own work, placing a number at the top of the page.

Variations:This process can be utilized to determine rubrics for any writing project.The students can design the rubrics in advance.

9) StrategiesAfter giving the interviews on page 37, Figure 2.3 and page 38, Figure 2.4 in Chapter 2, reflect upon the type of reader and writer the child may be based on your discussion with him or her.

10) Journal Writing about AssessmentLook at the State Common Core Standards on the last five pages of the text that begin after p. 532. What is your reaction to these standards? In what ways do you believe it impacts practice?

11)


Go to the Topic Assessment in the MyEducationLab (www.myeducationlab.com) for your course, where you can: Find learning outcomes for Assessment along with the national standards that connect to

these outcomes. Complete Assignments and Activities that can help you more deeply understand the

chapter content. Examine challenging situations and cases presented in the IRIS Center Resources.

A+RISE Go to the Topic A+RISE in the MyEducationLab (www.myeducationlab.com) for your course. A+RISE® Standards2Strategy™ is an innovative and interactive online resource that offers new teachers in grades K–12 just-in-time, research-based instructional strategies that:

Meet the linguistic needs of ELLs as they learn content Differentiate instruction for all grades and abilities Offer reading and writing techniques, cooperative learning, use of linguistic and

nonlinguistic representations, scaffolding, teacher modeling, higher order thinking, and alternative classroom ELL assessment

Provide support to help teachers be effective through the integration of listening, speaking, reading, and writing along with the content curriculum

Improve student achievement Are aligned to Common Core Elementary Language Arts standards (for the literacy

strategies) and to English language proficiency standards in WIDA, Texas, California, and Florida.

12) Book Share Related to Assessment Read a book to the class addressing issues related to assessment. Discuss how assessment is portrayed in the book. Discuss other possible ways to structure and prepare for assessment.

Suggested literature: Finchler, J. (2003). Testing Miss Malarkey. Walker & Co.Description: This book is about the current standardized-testing culture. A school community is obsessed with students' preparation and performance on the Instructional Performance Through Understanding test (IPTU). As Miss Malarkey prepares her class, she becomes increasingly frazzled as test time approaches. Although she tries to reassure students that "THE TEST" is not important, the atmosphere tells a different story. While they seem immune to the adult panic, the tension spreads to their parents who abandon bedtime stories for textbook drills. Readers will get the joke if they have experienced our society's testing mania. 13) Portfolio

Have students select a child from their field placement or their own classrooms. Students will begin to construct a portfolio for the child.

Place pieces of work that both student and professor agree upon in the portfolio. Occasionally look over the materials. At the end of the semester, students should review portfolio materials and write a case

study about the child. The materials were collected for noting their strengths and areas of literacy development where there are concerns.

http://www.myeducationlab.com/

http://www.myeducationlab.com/


For the first entry in the portfolio, interview the child’s teacher concerning their evaluation of the student’s performance in literacy.

Other portfolio assessments to collect will be a writing sample, story retelling, etc.

14) Case Study Activity about AssessmentHave the class read the classroom experience below. Individually, consider the concerns of parents and administrators about the approaches to testing taken by both teachers.

What would your advice be to Mr. Manson, and why? What would your advice be to Mrs. Kimmel, and why? If you were a teacher in this school district, what would be your plan for assessment?

Your district uses standardized tests in the early childhood grades, and all teachers keep portfolios on students with daily work samples, checklists of skills accomplished and those that still need improvement, anecdotes about children, audiotapes of language and story retellings, and videotapes of the children working in social settings. The material on the standardized test does not completely reflect the teaching that is occurring in the classroom.Mr. Manson is aware that standardized tests will be coming up soon. Although he uses an integrated language arts approach for literacy instruction most of the time, he also makes sure that his instruction reflects the contents of standardized tests, which he knows his students will be taking. About a month before the standardized tests, he stops much of his usual instruction and spends an hour a day preparing his children for the test. He gives them samples of test materials to teach them the content and format of the test. He gives the students time to practice how to fill in the correct box, how to press hard with the pencil, how to be sure to check the appropriate answer box for the particular question, how to make a good guess, what students should do if they cannot answer a question, how much time to spend on each question, etc. He checks the children’s work and spends time helping those who are having difficulties. Mrs. Kimmel uses an integrated language arts approach for teaching that is similar to Mr. Manson’s teaching approach. She knows she must administer the standardized tests, but she does not pay much attention to them because she feels they are inappropriate for children in the early childhood grades. She also does not want to waste valuable instruction time preparing for them. The only preparation she offers her students for the test is a discussion a week before they are administered. Then she describes what they are like, tells how long they will take, and generally plays down their importance.Mr. Manson’s students score much better on the tests than Mrs. Kimmel’s children, although on informal measures such as retellings and rewritings the children do similarly.

15) Word Wall about AssessmentCreate Word Wall cards on colored paper for key terms about assessment, such as Authentic Assessment, Standardized Tests, Portfolio Assessment, High Stakes Assessment.Have students define each term with adjectives and examples of types of assessment that fall under that category, such as norm referenced, whole group, one test a year, informal measure, on a different color paper. Post the key terms.Match the adjectives and assessment examples with the proper key terms.

16) SnackIntroduce a piece of children’s literature that relates to food.


Describe an assessment lesson that can be taught using the book.Provide a snack relating to the food in the book or the skill taught.

Suggested literature and skill: Cohen, M. (2006). First Grade Takes a Test. Yearling.This can be used for a lesson about standardized testing. Provide food mentioned in the book as a snack, such as baloney sandwiches, tomato sandwiches, carrots, etc.


Multiple Choice Questions

1. Assessment activities that represent and reflect the actual learning and instructional activities of the classroom and out-of-school world are

a. standardized assessment.b. teacher-centered assessment.c. authentic assessment.d. multiple choice tests.

2. Quality assessment of student achievement is frequent anda. repetitive.b. includes many types.c. standardized.d. authentic.

3. Marie Clay created this type of assessment to help teachers observe and describe children’s oral reading behavior and the types of errors they make. This helps to plan for reading instruction.

a. anecdotal observation formb. running recordc. student evaluation formd. high-stakes test

4. A student read the following from their text: “Bobby bought a new boot,” instead of “Bobby bought a new boat.” This error can be classified as

a. visual.b. meaning.c. structure.

5. The materials put into a student’s portfolio shoulda. help teachers create appropriate instructional strategies.b. help parents understand their child’s development c. make the child aware of his/her strengths and weaknesses and how he/she can

improve.d. All of the above

6. These tests are prepared by publishers and are administered to large numbers of students in order to develop norms, validity and reliability.

a. daily performance samplesb. teacher prepared pencil-and-paper testsc. standardized testsd. checklists


7. When major decisions are made from the score of one test, it is referred to asa. high stakes assessment.b. teaching to the test.c. placement decisions.d. authentic assessment.

8. What is the purpose of standards?a. To articulate what students need to learn at each grade level b. To prepare students for literacy now and in the futurec. To promote high expectations for literacy achievement among all childrend. All of the above

Answers: 1) c, 2) b, 3) b, 4) a, 5) d, 6) c, 7) a, 8) a

Short Answer Questions

1. Briefly explain some authentic assessment measures and how you would use them in your classroom in order to keep the students, their parents, and yourself informed and aware of the progress being made.

2. Using either a child in your fieldwork placement or outside of your placement complete a running record. Use the running record coding system in the text. Afterwards determine whether the passage was at the child’s independent, instructional, or frustration level.

3. Briefly discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using standardized tests. Explain how standardized tests can be used in a beneficial way.

4. Due to the high-stakes decisions surrounding standardized tests many teachers are said to teach-to-the-test. How have you seen standardized tests handled in your field placement?

5. Explain how you feel about standards. Do you see them as being helpful to you as a teacher in the future or do you view them as limiting your choices and creativity?

6. Briefly explain how you would implement standards into your daily literacy curriculum.

7. Some of the parents of your students do not understand the authentic assessment strategies that you are using in the classroom. How would you explain why you believe this type of assessment is the best way to evaluate the students?

8. Early childhood education is concerned with physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. Briefly explain the importance of considering the total development of the child, not just the cognitive, when preparing instructional environments and the curriculum.

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