Assessment-Driven
Reading Instruction
Michael C. McKenna
University of Virginia
Sharon Walpole
University of Delaware
Today’s Goals
Define the three tiers of instruction.
Explain how assessments can help
predict which tiers are necessary for a
child.
Describe best practice with respect to
managing three-tiered instruction.
Back in School . . .
 Lead one grade-level meeting to explore how
three-tiered instruction can be improved.
 Conference with an individual teacher at that
grade level who is experiencing difficulties in
planning and delivering tier-two instruction.
 Follow-up with this teacher after a plan has
been agreed upon.
What are the three tiers?
Let’s be clear about GARF
 There are several multi-tier models of
reading intervention described in the
research literature.
 These are potentially confusing.
 The model used in Georgia Reading
First has three tiers.
 It was developed by Sharon Vaughn and
her colleagues.
What are the three tiers?
Tier 1
 Whole-class core instruction
 This instruction is the same for all; it
might include work in small groups,
pairs, or teams, but the work is gradelevel work
 Includes core reading selections
 Includes read-alouds
What are the three tiers?
Tier 2
 Small-group needs-based instruction
 Needs are determined by assessments
 How long a child remains in a particular
group is also determined by assessments
 Materials could be part of the core program
or they could be independent
 Tier 2 instruction could be conducted by the
classroom teacher or by others
 Tier 2 occurs during the reading block
What are the three tiers?
Tier 3




Small-group or individual needs-based instruction
Scheduled outside the block
Needs are determined by assessments
Placement in Tier 3 depends on lack of success at
Tier 2
 Like Tier 2, how long a child remains in Tier 3 is also
determined by assessments
 Materials could be part of the core program, but they
are more likely to be independent
 Tier 3 instruction is usually not conducted by the
classroom teacher
What is assessment-driven instruction?
 Assessments of three kinds are used:
 Screening
 Diagnostic
 Progress monitoring
 Group placement is based on the first two kinds.
 How long to keep a child in a group is based on the third.
 The Cognitive Model of Reading Assessment should
guide which assessments to give. Let’s review it!
McKenna & Stahl, 2003, Chapter 1
Isn’t the Cognitive Model
that big flowchart?
Yes, that’s the way Steve
Stahl first described it, but
there are other ways.
Let’s look at a checklist
teachers might find useful.
Three Areas Addressed by the
Cognitive Model
Word Recognition
Language Comprehension
Strategy Use
Word Recognition
Deficit Revealed by
Screening
Oral Reading
Fluency
Next Steps …
•Screen in phonics
•If there is a problem in phonics, do not
group for fluency
•Screen for sight vocabulary
•If there is a problem with sight
vocabulary, do not group for fluency
•If phonics and sight vocabulary are
adequate, provide needs-based fluency
instruction.
Walpole & McKenna, 2007
Word Recognition, continued
Deficit Revealed by
Screening
Next Steps …
Sight Vocabulary
• Screen in phonics
• Plan needs-based sight word instruction
based on words inventoried
Phonics
• Screen in phonological awareness
• If there is a problem in phonological
awareness, do not group for phonics.
• Give phonics inventory to determine
specific deficits
• Provide targeted phonics instruction
Phonological
Awareness
• Give a phonological awareness
inventory
• Use the inventory to determine level of
awareness
• Provide instruction designed to bring
student to next level.
Language Comprehension
Deficit Revealed by
Screening
Next Steps …
Vocabulary
• Identify useful, unfamiliar words in a
read-aloud or core selection.
• Provide instruction in these words, using
the selection for context.
• Consider serving vocabulary and
knowledge problems in the same group.
Background
Knowledge
• Conduct prereading questioning to
determine gaps in prior knowledge.
• Provide prereading instruction to fill
those gaps.
• Consider serving vocabulary and
knowledge problems in the same group.
Text Structures
• Conduct prereading questioning to
determine knowledge of text structure.
• Provide instruction in the organizational
pattern / genre if needed.
Strategy Use
Deficit Revealed by
Screening
Next Steps …
Comprehension
Strategies
• Screen in the goal of reading
• If there is a problem with concepts of
print, begin by addressing that problem.
• If the child realizes the goal of reading,
assess strategies diagnostically, one by one.
• Provide instruction in strategies where
proficiency is limited.
Goal of Reading
• Screen for concepts of print.
• If there is a problem with concepts of
print, begin by addressing that problem.
• If concepts of print are firm, provide
instruction in the goal of reading.
Concepts of Print
• Conduct diagnostic assessment using
inventory of print concepts.
• Provide instruction in how print functions.
Defining Best Practice
 Multi-tiered instruction has proved effective in K-3 contexts.
 Teachers must recognize that initial group placements can be wrong
(the result of “false positives”).
 Teachers must commit to changing Tier 2 groupings or ending Tier 3
placements as soon as progress-monitoring assessment indicates that
it’s no longer needed.
 Using others (e.g., special educators, paraprofessionals) to help with
Tier 2 instruction requires coordinated scheduling across classrooms
and possibly across grades.
 Scheduling Tier 3 instruction requires coordination on a broader level,
possibly involving specials, lunch, etc.
 Tier 3 interventions in kindergarten and grade one are probably illadvised during the fall; consider first evaluating the effectiveness of
Tier 2
Some GARF assumptions . . .
• Core instruction will not be sufficient for all
students – particularly those who struggle.
• Providing instruction at Tiers 2 and 3 is an
expectation of GARF.
• Because of the nature of Reading First, most
differentiated instruction will concern word
recognition.
• Some differentiated instruction, however, will
address comprehension strategies.
Coaches’ Corner
How well are teachers implementing Tier
2 instruction in your school?
How well is your plan for Tier 3 instruction
working in your school?
What are some of the pitfalls and
problems you’ve encountered?
What successes can you share?
How can I put these ideas
together to gain a better
understanding of assessmentdriven instruction?
Let’s read an article that
attempts to do just that.
McKenna, M. C., & Walpole, S. (2005). How well
does assessment inform our reading instruction?
The Reading Teacher, 59, 84-86.
Read this article. It provides an
explanation of assessmentdriven instruction as it is applied
in Georgia Reading First schools.
What have we learned?
 What are some ways in which Ms.
Henderson’s instruction is not assessment
driven?
 In the article, the general model is not specific
to Reading First. What would you need to add
to align it?
Here it is again …
Let’s Plan . . .
 Think about how to organize a grade-level meeting
about assessment-driven instruction. You’ll need to
examine grade-level and classroom-level DIBELS
data. You’ll also need to examine or propose
additional data collection.
 Think of a teacher who needs your help in planning
and carrying out needs-based instruction.
 Think of how you might conduct a conference with
that teacher to begin moving toward that goal.
Back at School . . .
 Review your DIBELS summaries for your target grade
level and classrooms.
 Plan and schedule the grade-level meeting.
 Conduct the meeting, making notes about teacher input.
 Schedule a conference with the teacher you identified.
 Decide beforehand on strategies you will suggest.
 During the conference, use data to support your
suggestions.
 Try to get a commitment from the teacher to implement
the differentiation strategy.
 Follow up to judge the success of the implementation.
References
McKenna, M. C., & Stahl, S. A. (2003). Assessment for reading
instruction. New York: Guilford Press.
McKenna, M. C., & Walpole, S. (2005). How well does assessment inform
our reading instruction? The Reading Teacher, 59, 84-86.
National Center for Reading First Technical Assistance. (2005). Promoting
assessment-driven reading instruction. In An introductory guide for
Reading First coaches (Chapter 5). Washington, DC: USDOE.
Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts at The University of
Texas at Austin. (2005). Introduction to the 3-Tier Reading Model:
Reducing reading difficulties for kindergarten through third grade
students (4th ed.). Austin, TX: Author.
Walpole, S., & McKenna, M. C. (2007). Differentiated reading instruction:
Strategies for the primary grades. New York: Guilford Press.