Research Foundations and EGRA Protocols or Why these

measures?

Sylvia Linan-Thompson

Purpose of Assessment in a Prevention-oriented System

• Intervene early and strategically during critical windows of reading development

• Identify need, allocate resources, and design and modify instruction

• Develop and promote a comprehensive system of instruction

• Address reading failure and reading success from a school-wide, systematic perspective

Research

• Why now?– Early predictors– Consistently strong measures of future reading

growth are measures of phonemic awareness and fluency in naming letters of the alphabet.

– Evidence that phonemic awareness predicts to later reading ability within and across languages (Francis, 2006; Ziegler & Goswami, 2005).

– Oral reading fluency

Research

– Easy to measure• Reading measures to identify first grade students who

need intensive early intervention are valid (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1998; Good & Kaminski, 2003).

• For their use to be sustainable, measures must also be quick to administer and score and provide information about students’ academic skills useful in planning instruction (Fuchs & Fuchs, 2007).

• To be valuable, the data have to be used.

Research

– Can be changed with interventions• We have evidence that changing instruction

can change students’ trajectories

PSF MEANS OVER TIME AND ACROSS GROUPS

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Jan. (K) May (K) Sept. (1st)

Me

an

Sco

re

HC Tier I + SS Tier I + II RI

LNF MEANS OVER TIME AND ACROSS GROUPS

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Jan. (K) May (K) Sept. (1st)

Mean

Score

s

HC Tier I + SS Tier I + II RI

NWF MEANS IN MAY AND SEPTEMBER ACROSS GROUPS

0

5

10

15

20

25

May (K) Sept. (1st)

Me

an

Sco

re

HC Tier I + SS Tier I + II RI

K at-risk

n=141

K at-risk

n=142

Cohorts II & III CombinedCohort I – Historical Control

New 1st at-risk

n=62

New 1st at-risk

n=86

Fall 1st no risk n=24

Fall 1st at-risk n=60

Fall 1st no risk n=70

Fall 1st at-risk n=38

Winter 1st at-risk

n=41

Winter 1st

at-risk n=10

Winter1st at-

risk n=15

Winter 1st at- risk

n=20

Winter 1st at-risk

n=34

Winter 1st at-risk

n=30

Total continued at-risk = 81 Total continued at-risk = 69

What are the components of early reading?

• Letter knowledge/ Alphabetic principle

• Phonemic awareness

• Vocabulary

• Accuracy and fluency with connected text

• Comprehension

Components of early literacy should be included in the curriculum and instruction.

And, the components should be assessed by the measures we use.

In addition to identifying what we want to assess, what else

should we consider when identifying measures?

Factors to Consider

• Testing economy: How much do you get?

• Efficiency: What do you get for the effort?

• Task difficulty: Which skills will you measure?

• Developmental validity: How well will they hold up over time?

Testing Economy

• How much information will you get from the battery of tests?

• How many measures do you need to cover a construct?

• Is it necessary to measure every aspect of a construct?

Testing Economy

• Letter knowledge– Letter names– Letter sounds– Upper case – Lower case– Different fonts– Automaticity

Efficiency and task difficulty

• Do you need to measure every letter in the alphabet or just the most difficult?– What do you gain and lose?

Developmental Validity

• Will there be a floor effect?

• Will there be a ceiling effect?

• Will the criterion change with the age/grade of the student?

Letter Knowledge

• With a finite construct like letter knowledge we can expect a ceiling effect.

Assessment: What are we measuring?

Sub-skill MasteryAdvantages• Monitors student growth on specific skills• Closely linked with curriculum• Helps monitor toward short-term objectives

Example• Assessments included in reading

curriculum• Chapter tests

Assessment: What are we measuring?

General OutcomeAdvantages• Curriculum independent• Measures student growth towards long-term

outcomes• Assesses for retention and generalization

Example• EGRA

Assessment Type: Screening

• Brief assessment that focuses on critical reading skills strongly predictive of future reading growth and development – At the student level you can identify

children likely to need extra instruction.– At the school level you can identify gaps in

instruction.

Assessment Type: Diagnostic

• Longer measure that provides a more in-depth analysis of a student’s strengths and weaknesses.

EGRA

• Set of 8 measures in 7 domainsComponents and

Skills Tested

Reading components and EGRA Protocols

Component Measure

General Risk Indicator Letter Naming Fluency

Phonological Awareness Phoneme Segmentation

Alphabetic Principle Nonsense Word Fluency

Word Reading Fluency

Dictation

Accuracy and Fluency with Connected Text

Oral Reading Fluency

Comprehension

Response to Questions:

After listening to a story

After reading a story

Why these areas?

• They are predictive of later reading difficulty.

• They are easily measured.

• Instruction in these areas has an impact on student outcomes.

• If these areas are addressed, we can change trajectories.

Why fluency?

• Fluency measures assess not only whether or not a child knows something, but whether they have integrated the knowledge and can process the information automatically.

• To be successful readers, basic reading competencies have to be automatic.

Letter Knowledge

• Accuracy in naming letters– Letter naming

• Accuracy in identifying sounds of letters

L i h R S y E O n T 10

i e T D A t a d e w 20

h O e m U r L G R u 30

g R B E i f m t s r 40

S T C N p A F c a E 50

y s Q A M C O t n P 60

e A e s O F h u A t 70

R G H b S i g m i L 80

L i N O e o E r p X 90

N A c D d I O j e n 100

Phonemic Awareness

• Accuracy in segmenting sounds in words– Phoneme segmentation

(Put a slash through the sound if incorrect, underline if correct)

What are the sounds in ________? Indicate the total number of correct phonemes

as /a/ /s/

it /i/ /t/

me /m/ /e/

us /u/ /s/

too /t/ /oo/

sat /s/ /a/ /t/

lid /l/ /i/ /d/

mop /m/ /o/ /p/

light /l/ /i/ /t/

pot /p/ /o/ /t/

_____/2

_____/2

_____/2

_____/2

_____/2

_____/3

_____/3

_____/3

_____/3

_____/3

Alphabetic Principle

• Accuracy in mapping sounds to print

• Fluency in mapping sounds to print– Non-word reading– Dictation

wub dod ik vus nux 5

ul zel bef wab hiz 10

min ras bub jaf duz 15

tam af ked ig el 20

loz ep yat ol tob 25

uf ral ep bab vif 30

tig dev dop zac gok 35

lut sig zop mig zut 40

wof ib jud zek vok 45

ruz huf sa ak jep 50

Oral Reading Fluency

• Accuracy in reading decodable words and irregular words.

• Fluency is reading decodable and irregular words.– Word reading– Short passage

Comprehension

• Listening comprehension

• Reading comprehension– Ability to answer literal questions

• Short answer• Yes/no

Kazungu had a little dog. The little dog was 9 fat. One day Kazungu and the dog went out 18 to play. The little dog got lost. But after 27 a while the dog came back. Kazungu took 35 the dog home. When they got home 42 Kazungu gave the dog a big bone. The little 51 dog was happy so he slept. Kazungu also 59 went to sleep. 62 Comprehension Questions Who had a dog? [Kazungu] Correct Incorrect Was the dog big or little? [Little] Correct Incorrect Was the dog thin or fat? [Fat] Correct Incorrect Where did Kazungu take the dog? [Home] Correct Incorrect Why was the dog happy? [He was given a big bone] Correct Incorrect

Summary

• EGRA are– Screening measures – Curriculum independent– As a set, measure long-term growth– Focus on the critical areas of reading

and – Data can be used to change trajectories