Classroom Assessment Made Easy:

Identify, Record, and Monitor

Student Progress

Kit GiddingsUtah Personnel Development

Center

Today’s Objectives

• Importance of assessment

• Types of assessment

• Using assessment tools in the classroom

Let’s Assess Ourselves

• Find an “elbow” partner

• Designate one of you to be the examiner and the other to be the student

• Administer a 1 minute oral timed reading test

• Switch places and repeat

Importance of Assessment• Children who struggle with

academics must be identified early and provided interventions (Torgesen, 2002)

• Assessments monitor progress by helping determine instruction, identify specific strengths and weaknesses, and evaluate academic abilities (Deno, Mirkin, & Chiang, 1982; Salvia & Ysseldyke, 2004)

Importance of Assessment, cont.

• Frequent, or on-going assessments rather than periodic tests result in greater identification of word reading progress (Fuchs, Deno, & Mirkin, 1984)

• Assessments must be founded on scientifically based research and be valid and reliable

What is Validity and Reliability?

• Validity means that a test measures what it says it is measuring

• Reliability determines whether or not a test score is accurate (American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, 1999)

Not all Assessments Serve the Same Purpose

• Assessments fit into four categories:– Screening (Which students may need extra help?)

– Diagnostic (What are the student’s strengths and weaknesses?)

– Outcome (Did the student make progress towards the core standards?)

– Progress Monitoring (Is learning happening during instruction?)

It is important to understand these types of assessments so you know what you are measuring and why you are measuring it

Screening Assessments

• Designed to be a first step in the identification of children at-risk for academic failure (Torgesen, 2005)

• Alerts teachers to children who need to be closely monitored or who may need additional instruction (Grek, Howard, & Hook, 2003; Torgesen, 2005)

• For all students at the beginning of the year

• 1:1 or whole group

Examples of Screening Assessments

•Graded Word Lists–Examines student word recognition skills

–Helps determine the level at which a student reads sight words

– Identifies instruction level

Graded Word List Example

Primer

First Second

Third Fourth

Fifth Sixth

book rocket mile thankful worm terrific annoy

good our ago reason player terrify dwindle

know met fourth patient meek loaf rival

come told field burst rodeo grief gorge

man ready part tremble coward error burglar

show next hide planet protest ignore spice

did hold instead grin level wrestle prevail

little turtle reach ill oxen hike ladle

home cry trunk alarm eighty vehicle spike

Practice Taking a Graded Word List

• Turn to your elbow partner

• Designate one of you to be the examiner and the other to be the student

• Administer a 1 minute oral Graded Word List

• Switch places and repeat

Informal Reading Inventories • Informal Reading Inventories

(IRI’s)• Unfamiliar passages of

increasing difficulty– Help determine a student’s

approximate reading level so he or she can be taught at the correct instructional level (reading passages that begin at an easy level and increase in difficulty until it becomes too difficult for the student to read)

IRI’s, cont.

• Independent Level– 98-100% words read correctly– 90-100% accuracy in comprehension

• Instructional Level– 95% words read correctly– 75% accuracy in comprehension

• Frustration Level– >90% words read correctly– >70% accuracy in comprehension

IRI ExampleLevel 2 (118 words)

Passage:Whiz! The baseball went right by me, and I struck at the air! “Strike one,” called the man. I could feel my legs begin to shake! Whiz! The ball went by me again, and I began to feel bad. “Strike two,” screamed the man.I held the bat back because this time I would smack the ball! I would hit it right out of the park! I was so scared that I bit down on my lip. My knees shook and my hands grew wet.Swish! The ball came right over the plate. Crack! I hit it a good one! Then I ran like the wind. Everyone was yelling for me because I was now a baseball star.

Comprehension Questions:• Who is the main character in this story? (the batter)• After strike one, how do you think the batter felt? (nervous)• After strike two, what did the batter plan to do? (smack the ball)• What did it mean when the batter said, “I’ll smack the ball”? (hit it hard)• Why was the last pitch good? (it went right over the plate)• Why do you think it may be a good or bad to hit the ball right out of the park? • How do you think the batter felt after hitting the ball? (good, confident)

Error Count:Omissions _____ Aided words _____ Substitutions _____Insertions _____ Repetitions _____ Reversals _____

Let’s Practice!

• Turn to your elbow partner• Designate one of you to be the

examiner and the other to be the student

• Administer a 1 minute oral Informal Reading Inventory

• Switch places and repeat

Diagnostic Assessments

• Identify specific areas of strengths and weaknesses

• The Woodcock Johnson III is a diagnostic assessment

• Diagnostic assessments are mainly used when determining placement for special education services

• Usually given by teachers and school psychiatrists

Outcome Measurements

• Given to all students after the material has been taught

• End of level testing and CRT’s are outcome measures

• Usually given by teachers and/or administrators

• Answers question: “Did student make progress toward core standards?”

Progress Monitoring

• Answers question: “Is learning happening?”

• Changes can be made in instruction on a daily basis as needed

• Used in classroom regularly

Examples of Progress Monitoring• Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM)• Cloze and Maze Tests• Observations• Written Work Samples• Quizzes• Charts• Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy

Skills (DIBELS) (Good, Simmons, Kame’enui, Kaminski, & Wallin, 2002)

• Informal Reading Inventories (IRI)

Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM)• CBM is any approach that uses direct

observation and recording of a student’s performance to obtain information for instructional purposes (Mercer & Mercer, 2005)

– Quick and easy to administer– Inexpensive to produce– Provides another view of student progress– Provides strong validity and reliability– Similar to IRI’s but CBM’s do not increase in

difficulty

1 Minute CBM Math Graph

Multiplication Table Graph

020

406080

100120

M T W T F M T W T F M T W T F M T W T F

Days

Points

1 Minute Timed CBM Reading Assessment (Harcourt

Brace, 1999)

Someone is lost in the woods. He might be hurt, or the weather

13

could turn bad. It is important to find him as fast as possible.

26

But he didn’t follow a trail and footprints don’t show on the

38

forest floor. What to do? Call in the search and rescue dogs.

50

Dogs have a very fine sense of smell. They can find people lost

63

by following their scents because each person has his or her own,

74

unique scent. Panda is a Newfoundland dog trained to 84locate lost people. She and her owner, Susie Foley, know how

95

to search through the woods, under the snow, or in the water.

107

Practice Giving a CBM

• Turn to your elbow partner

• Designate one of you to be the examiner and the other to be the student

• Administer a 1 minute oral reading timed test

• Switch places and repeat

Cloze PassagesCaptain James Cook

Captain James Cook made _______ voyages of discovery into the Pacific Ocean. His first voyage led to the _______ of the East Coast of Australia. After visiting Tahiti, Captain Cook _______ west until he reached New Zealand. After circumnavigating New Zealand, he continued _______ until he reached Australia.

Captain Cook sailed up the east coast, mapping the _______ as he went. He stopped at _______ Bay. His ship, the Endeavour, was almost _______ on the Great _______ Reef. He had to throw many heavy _______, like cannon, overboard so they could free themselves from the _______.

Captain Cook was determined to keep his _______ healthy. He insisted his men eat onions and pickled cabbage every day and made sure that the ship kept fresh fruit and _______ on board.

On his second _______, he explored the southern Ocean. On his _______ voyage, he was killed by the natives in Hawaii.

crewsailedcoast

voyagethreewreckedobjects

BotanydiscoveryBarrierthird

vegetableswestcoral

Practice Taking a CLOZE Passage• Both partners read

the story• Together, fill in the

correct answers• Easy or difficult?

Maze PassagesSummer Camp

Stuart had nice parents. They did not embarrass him in __________________ of his (glad/ front/ yellow)

friends. His father did _____________ yell at him during his baseball _____________________ and

(not/ ant/ soft) (center/ games/ lines)his mother never kissed him ___________ front of his friends. He generally

_________________ (in/ tot/ put) (liked/ flow/

jeep)his parents, except for the fact _________________ they were sending him to summer

(shoe/ went/ that)__________________ this year.(bus/ dump/ camp)

Stuart did not want ____________ go to summer camp. The thought ____________ it made him

(to/ wit/ cow) (and/ be/ of)picture himself hot _______________ thirsty, hiking up a dusty trail. ____________ knew

that summer (coat/ rest/ and) (Bit/ He/ Go)

Practice Taking a MAZE Passage

• Both partners read the story

• Together, fill in the correct answers

• Easier or harder than a CLOZE passage?

Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) (Good, Simmons, Kame’enui, Kaminski, & Wallin, 2002)

• “DIBELS” measures a child’s ability to orally segment words into their individual phonemes with a one minute timed test

• Once a child’s phonological awareness skills are identified, he or she can use these skills to decode letters and words

DIBEL’S Example (2002 Dynamic Measurement

Group, inc.)

Nonsense Word FluencyIb az pov wef icdak zub kat yil debwij ol seg peb difyal juj kip sil yinnaj poz rij kul kanlif dun kuk rit mojmod hal kug sel zodjiv nij vol hoc joztig puc eg ziv fesad luj zik ruv diz

Let’s Practice “DIBELing” • Each partner takes

turns administering the Nonsense Word Fluency portion of the “DIBELS”

• Easy or difficult?

What Does CBM Data Tell Us?• CBM Data Identifies:

– The low performers– Who needs special instruction– How to organize instructional groups– When and how to plan instructional

programs– Which long-range goals to set

Using CBM

• How Often Should We Use CBM?– Daily when student progress is rapid

– Daily when student behavior fluctuates and frequent adjustments are needed

– Weekly or bi-weekly when student progress is slow

– Weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly when the student has mastered the skill and all you are doing is monitoring progress

Using CBM with Behavior

• Event Recording– Focuses on frequency of

behavior– Increases or decreases

in frequency of behavior

– Provides an exact count of # of occurrences

• Anecdotal Recording– Determines which

behaviors create the biggest impact in class

– Helps to design interventions

Event Recording

• Example:– Count the # of times a student completes

assignments for 4 school days

Day Due Completed

1 4 //

2 5 ///

3 6 ////

4 7 //

Total = 21 11

Anecdotal Recording

• The purpose of anecdotal recording (includes interval recording and time sampling) is to gain a complete description of a student’s behavior– Determine which behaviors create the biggest

impact in class

– Helps to design interventions

Anecdotal Recording, cont.

• Example:– Record all behaviors of the student during a

specified time period

Time 1:06

Antecedent Teacher passes out lab materials and explains experiment

Behavior Katie stares out the window. She talks to students around her

Let’s Observe Ourselves!• For 1 minute, identify one

person in this session (without their knowledge)

• Pick a behavior (doodling, slouching, touching one’s face, is distracted, legs crossed, etc.)

• In the Interval Recording Table, place a “+” for every ten seconds that person performs your chosen behavior and a “-” for every ten seconds that person does not perform the behavior

What Did You See?

Share with your elbow partner:• What behaviors you saw that might

warrant data collection

• How are these behaviors observable AND measurable?

• Would you use interval recording or another method of data collection?

A Last Word on Data Collection

• Regard ALL data as confidential• Choose target behaviors that are easily

observable, countable, have a beginning and an end, and are repeatable – This means to be able to “pinpoint” when and under

what conditions the behavior occurs

• There a variety of ways and topics on which to collect data:– Academic – Classroom– Work-related– Social

Questions or Comments?

Data collection helps us “get our ducks in a row” so we can help all students succeed

Thank You!

Kitg@updc.org801.272.3431