Professional Development Course on Catering for Diversity
in English Language Teaching
ENG5316
Assessing Diversity in English Language Learning
Session 3
Assessing reading
Prepared by YANG, Chi Cheung Ruby,
Department of English, HKIEd
Nature of Reading: Different
Models/Views of Reading
 Developmental models of reading
 Chall’s Stage Model of Reading
 Spear-Swearing and Sternberg Model of Reading
 Frith’s Developmental Phases Model
 Adams’ Cognitive Model of Reading
 Information processing model of reading
 Transactional view of reading
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Jigsaw Reading
 Form into groups of 3-4.
 Each group will study a model/view of reading and then
present to the whole class what this model/view is
about.
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Inclusive View of Reading
 Inclusive Model of Reading
4
Brainstorming
 Why do we need to assess students’ reading achievement?
5
Formal vs. Informal Reading
Assessment
 Formal tests
 Standardized
 Norm-referenced
Compare student performance among age or grade-level
peers but fail to provide needed information about how
students actually function in class.
 Objective
 Test items generally do not closely related to the concepts
and skills taught through the classroom curriculum
(Spinelli, 2006)
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Formal vs. Informal Reading
Assessment
 Informal reading assessments
 Directly measure how students perform in relation to
their own abilities (Spinelli, 2006)
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Curriculum-Based Assessment
 Teachers use student work, e.g. in-class reading
assignments and class tests to evaluate reading skills and
development.
 It allows teachers to conduct evaluation as part of the
ongoing learning activities in the classroom, thus linking
assessment with the curriculum directly.
 To evaluate student performance in direct relation to the
curriculum (Venn, 2007)
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Curriculum-Based Assessment
Techniques
 Observations
 Teachers record their observations by simply writing
down their observations on a sheet of paper or in a
notebook, or constructing a checklist of reading
behaviors.
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Diagnostic Checklists
Diagnostic Checklist of Oral Reading
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Diagnostic Checklists
Diagnostic Checklist of Silent Reading
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Knowledge of the Alphabet
 Understand that words are composed of individual letters
 In numerous research studies, knowledge of the alphabet and
identification of individual letters have been found to be very
predictive of early reading achievement (Richek et al., 2002).
Letter Identification Checklist
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Phonemic Awareness
 Understand that the sounds of spoken language work
together to make words (National Reading Panel, 2000)
 Understand phonemic segregation
Being able to identify the number of phonemes in a word
(Spinelli, 2006)
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Phonics Assessment
 To have students read phonetically correct nonsense words.
 Purpose: To eliminate the chance that the student is relying
on the recall of sight vocabulary (Richek et al., 2002).
 Sight words (words that can be recognized automatically as
a result of how frequently they appear in texts):
http://www.quiz-tree.com/Sight-Words_main.html
http://www.starfall.com/n/matching/sightwords/load.htm
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Phonics Assessment
Checklist for
Assessing Phonics
Generalizations
Using Nonsense
Words
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Vocabulary Assessment
 Word Recognition (or Word Identification)
 To be within a student’s sight vocabulary, the word must
be pronounced without hesitation (in about one second)
and without the use of word analysis.
 Fry Word List
http://w4.nkcsd.k12.mo.us/~kcofer/fry_words_pg.ht
m
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Vocabulary Assessment
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Silent/Oral Reading Observation Checklist
Vocabulary Assessment
 Oral Reading
 Students read aloud from the textbook or other reading
material.
 The passage chosen should not have been read previously
by the student (King-Sears, 1998).
 Suggested no. of words:
From 50 (primary level) to 400 (secondary level)
 * Readability level of the text:
95% accurate
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Reading Error Pattern Analysis
 Miscue Analysis (or Error Analysis)
 Systematically measures and evaluates student mistakes
 Reveals whether a student makes the mistakes
persistently or in a random fashion
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Miscue Analysis
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Reading Error Pattern Analysis
 Typical oral reading errors:
 Mispronunciations (“gran” instead of “grain”)
 Omissions (“Reading is process” instead of “Reading is a
process”)
 Insertions (“on a the table” instead of “on the table”)
 Repetitions (“What, what’s the matter?” instead of
“What’s the matter?”)
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Reading Error Pattern Analysis
 Instructional level
At least 95% accuracy
 Frustration level
Error rate of 10% or higher
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Reading Error Pattern Analysis
 Running Records
 Teacher keeps a “running record” of a student’s oral reading by
closely monitoring and recording his/her errors while he/she
reads (Spinelli, 2006).
Running Record Recording Chart
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Administering Running Records
 Student reads a passage from a book.
 As the student reads, use a record form or a blank sheet of
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paper to mark the reading behavior and record miscues.
If the student stops during reading, allow the student enough
time to read the word/phrase before supplying it.
Record words read correctly, substitutions, omissions, and
insertion.
Take note of self-corrections.
Note hesitations and repetitions (Venn, 2007).
Scoring Running Records
 Score substitutions, insertions, omissions, and teacher-
told responses as errors.
 Avoid penalizing attempts that result in a correct
response.
 Score multiple unsuccessful attempts at a word as one
error only.
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Scoring Running Records
 Accuracy score (%) (indicates the level of difficulty of the
selected text for the reader):
(No. of correctly read words / Total no. of words) 100
Independent reading level
Over 95%
Instructional reading level
90-95%
Frustration level
Below 90%
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Reading Fluency Assessment
 Reading Fluency
 The ability to read a text accurately and quickly (Spinelli,
2006)
 Reading rate is a good indication of fluency.
When fluent readers read silently, they recognize words
automatically.
Fluent readers read aloud effortlessly, with expression and
sound natural.
 Students who have low fluency tend to have poor
comprehension (Spinelli, 2006).
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Reading Fluency Assessment
 Using informal procedures:
 Listening to students read passages orally
 Determining reading rate
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Administering a Reading Fluency
Assessment
 Student reads either orally or silently a copy of an
unpracticed selection (at his/her instructional grade
level).
 Teacher follows along as the student reads, recording
information about:
1) word recognition errors
2) rate of reading
3) use of expression
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Scoring a Reading Fluency
Assessment
 Count errors, including:
 substitutions
 mispronunciations
 omissions
 reversals
 Count hesitations (more than 3 seconds)
 Fluency score: No. of correct words per minute
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Scoring a Reading Fluency
Assessment
Oral Reading Errors
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Scoring a Reading Fluency
Assessment
Reading Rates Based on Instructional Grade Levels
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Reading Fluency Assessment
Also consider the following:
 Is reading choppy?
 Does the student stumble over or repeat words?
 Does the student pause excessively?
 Is the student reading word by word rather than in
phrases?
 Is reading monotonous?
 Does the student rush through text, ignoring
punctuation and sentence breaks?
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Reading Fluency Assessment
 Informal Reading Inventory
 It provides a wealth of information concerning the
student’s reading skills, reading levels, types of errors,
and techniques of attacking unknown words (Johnson,
Kress, & Pikulski, 1987).
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Administering an Informal Reading
Inventory
 Teacher chooses selections of texts (approximately one
hundred words in length) from a series of graded reading
levels.
 Student reads aloud from several graded levels while the
teacher systematically records the errors.
 If the student makes more than five errors per hundred
words, he/she is given progressively easier selections until a
level is found at which there are no more than two
errors per hundred words (Lerner, 2003).
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Administering an Informal Reading
Inventory
 To check comprehension, teacher can ask the student four
to ten questions about each selection.
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Administering an Informal Reading
Inventory
 Independent reading level
 Recognize about 95% of the words
 Answer about 90% of the comprehension questions correctly
 Instructional reading level
 Recognize about 90% of the words
 A comprehension score of about 70%
 Frustration reading level
 Recognize fewer than 90% of the words
 A comprehension score of less than 70%
(Lerner, 2003)
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How do we know whether a student
has a reading disability?
 “When a student is not making progress in reading
despite exposure to sound instruction, a motivating
classroom environment, good school attendance, and a
stable home environment, classroom teachers may
consider some within-the-child characteristics” (Bell &
McCallum, 2008, p. 57).
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Factors related to reading problems
 Intellectual factors
 Physical factors
 Language factors
 Special learning problems
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References
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
Bell, S. M. & McCallum, R. S. (2008). Handbook of reading assessment. Boston, Mass.: Allyn and
Bacon Publishers.

Johnson, M. S., Kress, R. A., & Pikulski, J. J. (1987). Informal reading inventories (2nd ed.).
Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

King-Sears, M. E., Burgess, M., & Lawson, T. L. (1999). Applying curriculum-based assessment
in inclusive settings. Teaching Exceptional Children, 30-38.

Lerner, J. W. (2003). Learning disabilities:Theories, diagnosis, and teaching strategies (9th ed.). Boston;
New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the
scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC:
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Richek, M., Caldwell, J., Jennings, J., & Lerner, J. (2002). Reading problems: Assessment and
teaching strategies. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Spinelli, C. G. (2006). Classroom assessment for students in special and general education (2nd ed.).
Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall.

Venn, J. J. (2007). Assessing students with special needs (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson
Merrill Prentice Hall.
Activity
 Browse through the following websites:
Child Development Institute
http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/learning/reading_test1.htm
Oral Fluency Assessment Calculator for Grades 3-5
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4446
Reading a-z.com
http://www.readinga-z.com/assessment/reading-assessment.php
TEAMS Educational Resources
http://teams.lacoe.edu/reading/assessments/assessments.html
 Try to explore some interesting things or resources for assessing reading
in the websites and then share with other participants.
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