Florida Assessments for Instruction
in Reading (FAIR) – Using Scores
for Growth and Instruction
Dr. Barbara Foorman
Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR)
Stuart Greenberg
Florida Department of Education
What is FAIR?
 A K-2 assessment system administered to
individual students 3 times a year, with
electronic scoring, Adobe AIR version, and
PMRN reports linked to instructional
resources.
 A 3-12 computer-based system where
students take the assessments 3 times a
year. Several tasks are adaptive. PMRN
reports are available, linked to instructional
resources. Printed toolkit available.
© 2011 Florida Department of Education
2
The K-2 “Big Picture” Map
Broad Screen/Progress Monitoring Tool
(BS/PMT)
“All” students
• Letter Naming & Sounds
• Phonemic Awareness
• Word Reading
Broad Diagnostic Inventory
(BDI)
“All” students
“Some” students for vocabulary
• Listening Comprehension
• Reading Comprehension
• Vocabulary
• Spelling (2nd grade only)
Targeted Diagnostic Inventory
(TDI)
“Some” students; some tasks
• K = 9 tasks
• 1st = 8 tasks
• 2nd = 6 tasks
Ongoing Progress Monitoring
(OPM)
“Some” students
•K – 2 = TDI tasks
•1 – 2 = ORF
© 2009 Florida Department of Education
3
K-2 Targeted Diagnostic Inventory
(TDI) Map
Kindergarten
• Print Awareness
• Letter name and sound knowledge
• Phoneme Blending
• Phoneme Deletion Word Parts/Initial
• Letter Sound Connection Initial
• Letter Sound Connection Final
• Word Building –Initial Consonants
• Word Building –Final Consonants
• Word Building –Medial Vowels
First Grade
• Letter Sound Knowledge
• Phoneme Blending
• Phoneme Deletion Initial
• Phoneme Deletion Final
• Word Building –Consonants
• Word Building –Vowels
• Word Building –CVC /CVCe
• Word Building –Blends
Second Grade
• Phoneme Deletion Initial
• Phoneme Deletion Final
• Word Building –Consonants
• Word Building –CVC /CVCe
•Word Building –Blends & Vowels
• Multisyllabic Word Reading
The K – 2 “Score” Map
BS/PMT PRS = Probability of Reading Success
LC = Listening Comprehension
BDI
 Total questions correct (implicit/explicit)
RC = Reading Comprehension
 Total questions correct (implicit/explicit),
Fluency, Percent Accuracy
 Target Passage

VOC = Vocabulary
 Percentile Rank
SPL = Spelling
 Percentile Rank
TDI
ME = Meets Expectations
BE = Below Expectations
OPM
ORF = Adjusted Fluency
OPM TDI Tasks = ME or BE and Raw Score
5
Target RC Passages for Grades 1 and 2 (BDI)
Florida Center for Reading Research
6
Grade 1 PRS Chart (2010-2011)
AP1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
PRS
0.11
0.14
0.20
0.27
0.36
0.46
0.56
0.66
0.75
0.82
0.86
AP2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
PRS
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.05
0.09
0.17
0.28
0.44
0.61
0.76
0.86
AP3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
PRS
.01
.02
.03
.06
.12
.20
.33
.49
.65
.79
.88
Probability of Reading Success
 Look for trends
85% &
above
(Green)
within grade levels,
within teachers, and
across grades.
K 28%
 Let’s look across
grades in our
sample data.
1st 36%
 What do you notice
when you compare
nd 25%
2
across grades?
16%15% &
84%
below
(Yellow) (Red)
61%
11%
56%
8%
70%
5%
Instructional Information from FAIR
In grades K-2:
1. Are my students in the green zone (>.85) on
the Broad Screen? At or above 50%ile in
vocabulary? On the target LC or RC
passage?
2. If not, look at performance on the targeted
diagnostic inventory tasks to see which skills
students have mastered (>80%). Teach to
those they haven’t mastered.
© 2011 Florida Department of Education
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Student Score
Detail Box (K-2)
Excellent report
to include in a
student’s
cumulative folder
©2011 Florida Center for Reading Research
Questions to answer using the School
Grade Summary Report
 What is the distribution of scores in a particular
grade level?



The School Status told us the Median Score for
Vocabulary was the 24th percentile, but now I see the
full distribution and can see that the majority of my
students fell within the 11th – 30th percentile range.
This tells me that overall, the First Grade group is
below average in their general vocabulary knowledge
I would want to see if this is true in Kindergarten and
Second Grade as well (on the School Status Report)



Kindergarten Median Vocabulary = 29th percentile
Second Grade Median Vocabulary = 41st
I might look to see how the Core Reading Program
addresses vocabulary and if we have any additional
programs addressing vocabulary (maybe we are using
something different or additional at second grade?)
Grades 3-12 Assessments Model
Broad Screen/Progress
Monitoring Tool
Reading Comprehension Task
(3 Times a Year)
If necessary
Targeted Diagnostic
Inventory
Maze & Word Analysis Tasks
Diagnostic
Toolkit
(As Needed)
Ongoing
Progress
Monitoring
(As Needed)
© 2011 Florida Department of Education
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Purpose of Each 3-12 Assessment
 RC Screen

Helps us identify students who may not be able to meet the
grade level literacy standards at the end of the year as
assessed by the FCAT without additional targeted literacy
instruction.
 Mazes

Helps us determine whether a student has more
fundamental problems in the area of text reading efficiency
and low level reading comprehension. Relevant for
students below a 6th grade reading level.
 Word Analysis

Helps us learn more about a student's fundamental literacy
skills--particularly those required to decode unfamiliar
words and read and write accurately.
How is the student placed into the
first passage/item?
Task
Placement Rules
Reading
Comprehension Adaptive
•For AP 1, the first passage the student receives is determined by:
• Grade level and prior year FCAT (if available)
• If no FCAT, students placed into a specific grade-level passage
• All 3rd grade students are placed into the same initial passage
•For AP 2 and 3, the first passage is based on students’ final ability score
from the prior Assessment Period (AP).
Maze – Not
adaptive
Two predetermined passages based on grade level and assessment
period (AP).
WA - Adaptive
• AP 1-3 starts with predetermined set of 5 words based on grade level.
Student performance on this first set of 5 words determines the next
words the student receives.
• 5-30 words given at each assessment period based on ability.
How is the student placed into
subsequent passages?
 Based on the difficulty of the questions the student
answers correctly on the first passage, the student
will then be given a harder or easier passage for their
next passage.

Difficulty of an item is determined using Item Response
Theory (IRT).
 Because of this, the raw score of 7/9 for Student A
and 7/9 for Student B, when reading the same
passage, does not mean they will have the same
converted scores.
The 3-12 “Big Picture” Map
Type of Assessment
Name of Assessment
Broad Screen/Progress Monitoring
Tool (BS/PMT) –
Appropriate for ‘All’ students
• Reading Comprehension (RC)
Targeted Diagnostic Inventory
(TDI) – “Some” students
• Maze
• Word Analysis (WA)
Ongoing Progress Monitoring
(OPM) – “Some” students
• Maze
• ORF
• RC
Informal Diagnostic Toolkit
(Toolkit) – “Some” students
• Phonics Inventory
• Academic Word Inventory
•Scaffolded Discussion Templates
16
The 3-12 “Score” Map
Reading Comprehension BS/PMT

FCAT Success Probability (FSP)

Color- coded
Percentile
 Standard Score
Ability Score and Ability Range
 FCAT Reporting Categories

Maze - TDI

Percentile
 Standard Score
 Adjusted Maze Score
Word Analysis - TDI

OPM

Percentile
 Standard Score
 Ability Score (WAAS)
RC – Ability Score, Ability Range, Reporting Categories
 Maze – Adjusted Maze Score
 ORF (3rd – 5th) Adjusted Fluency Score
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Questions to answer using the School
Grade Summary Report
 What is the distribution of the ‘yellow’ zone (16-
84%)?

Say that 38% of Seventh Graders fall in the yellow
zone. Looking at a particular distribution, are more
of them at the high end or the low end of the zone?


Say that it is a relatively even distribution across the
zone with between 10-12 students falling in each
section of the zone until the last two sections, 65-74%
chance has 26 students and 75%-84% chance has 45
students.
We want to see the skew fall to the right with more
students closer to the high success zone of 85%
chance or higher.
Assessment/Curriculum
Decision Tree for
Reading Improvement
Using FAIR’s RC’s FSP
and Maze and Word
Analysis Percentile
Ranks.
Common Questions
 What score types should be used to measure
growth? For RTI decision-making?
 Are scores dropping from AP1 to AP2 this year?
 Is FAIR norm-referenced? Criterion-referenced?
 Why does FAIR have adaptive tests (RC and
WA) when we want grade-level information?
 Why doesn’t FAIR report at the benchmark level?
 How do we get instructional information out of
FAIR?
© 2011 Florida Department of Education
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Measuring Growth on FAIR
 In K-2, use PRS descriptively : E.g., establish % of
students to be in green zone at each AP.
 In 3-12, use the reading comprehension ability score
(RCAS) because it has the same metric across time (like
using FCAT’s DSS rather than SS for growth). FAIR’s
RCAS has a mean of 500; SD=100; range=150-1000.
 In 3-12, do not use FSP to measure growth in reading
comprehension ability because FSP includes prior FCAT
but RCAS may change over time. For students without a
matched FCAT score, FSP is based solely on RCAS.
When a student’s FCAT score becomes available in the
PMRN, the FSP may look unexpectedly high or low
compared to the previous AP’s FSP.
Why we use Ability Scores
Tom Brady
AP1
AP2
AP3
Raw
12
17
20
Standard Percentile Ability
100
50th
500
100
50th
550
100
50th
600
Reading
Comprehension
AP Score
PM score
Mazes
Word Analysis
AP Score PM score
AP Score
PM score
Percentile
rank
WAAS
student
score
student
score
Percentile
rank
FSP
RCAS
SS
Adj. Maze
SS
%ile & SS
PM = progress monitoring; SS = standard score
3-12 Instructional Toolkit
 Phonics screener and academic word list can
be used to monitor progress.
© 2009 Florida Department of Education
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Progress Monitoring in K-2
 G2 Broad Screen in G2 is same across each
AP--# words read correctly in 45 sec. Thus,
monitor progress in timed decoding.
 Equated OPM passages in G1-G5 allow for ORF
progress monitoring (with 40th %ile at each
grade provided at www.fcrr.org as criterion.
 Percent of G1 & G2 students who read target
passage with comprehension.
 Percent of students achieving 80% mastery on
TDI tasks.
© 2011 Florida Department of Education
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AP1
AP2 Scores
 Mean FSP and RCAS increased slightly in
grades 3-8 and stayed the same in grades 9-10
at the state level.
 Standard deviations are fairly large, explaining
why some are reporting drops.
 In grades 3-8 the majority of students tested
were at FCAT level 3 or above. This reflects
FAIR norms for FCAT 2.0. Slightly lower growth
from 09-10SY to 10-11SY likely due to demands
of FCAT 2.0.
© 2011 Florida Department of Education
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Norm- vs. Criterion-Referenced
 The K-2 Broad Screen predicts to a nationally
normed test; percentiles for Vocabulary and G2
Spelling are based on FL grade-level norms.
 The K-2 diagnostic inventory is criterionreferenced (80% of skills mastered).
 The 3-12 Broad Screen predicts to a criterion—
passing FCAT. (i.e., the FSP)
 Percentiles for the 3-12 Broad Screen, Maze,
and WA are based on FL grade-level norms.
© 2011 Florida Department of Education
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Value of Computer-Adaptive Tests
 Provides more reliable & quicker assessment of
student ability than a traditional test, because it
creates a unique test tailored to the individual
student’s ability.
 Provide more reliable assessments particularly
for students at the extremes of ability (extremely
low ability or extremely high ability).
 Grade-level percentiles are currently provided;
Grade Equivalent scores will be provided next
year.
© 2011 Florida Department of Education
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Benchmark Conundrum
 Benchmark tests rarely have enough items to
be reliable at the benchmark level. Besides,
teaching to benchmarks (e.g., “the student
will use context clues to determine meanings
of unfamiliar words”) results in fragmented
skills. Teach to the standard(s) (e.g., “The
student uses multiple strategies to develop
grade appropriate vocabulary). Assess at
aggregate levels (e.g., Reporting Categories),
if CFA show categories are valid.
© 2011 Florida Department of Education
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FCAT 2.0 Reporting Categories
 Reporting Category 1: Vocabulary
 Reporting Category 2: Reading Application
 Reporting Category 3: Literary Analysis-
Fiction/Nonfiction
 Reporting Category 4: Informational Text/
Research Process
FCAT 2.0: Benchmarks x Grade
Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
Category 4
Total
Grade
3
4
5
4
4
4
6
6
6
3
3
3
1
1
2
14
14
15
6
7
8
4
4
4
5
5
5
3
3
3
2
2
2
14
14
14
9/10
4
5
3
2
14
© 2011 Florida Department of Education
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Possible Benchmark Solutions
 Stop-gap: start each students with grade-level
passage. Provide % correct on Reporting Categories.
Then continue to current adaptive system to obtain
reliable, valid FSP and RCAS.
 For the future:
 Align FAIR to the Common Core. Develop grade-level
CAT that is item adaptive.
 Challenges: Dimensionality; multi-dimensional IRT;
testlet effects.
© 2011 Florida Department of Education
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Scarborough (2002)
Dimensions of Word Knowledge
 Knowledge of word’s spoken form (pronunciation)
 Written form (spelling)
 Grammatical behavior (syntactic/morphological
features)
 Co-locational behavior (occurs with other words)
 Frequency (orally and in print)
 Stylistic register (e.g., academic language;
informal)
 Conceptual meaning (antonyms, synonyms)
 Association with other words (inter-relatedness)
Nation (1990) in Nagy & Scott (2000)
Vocabulary Knowledge Task
Word Meanings
Text
• FCRR has developed a 3min. adaptive vocabulary
sentence task that strongly
predicts RC.
• Students pick 1 of 3
morphologically related
words to best complete a
sentence.
• Teachers can use
percentiles, standard
scores, & ability scores to
drive vocabulary instruction
35
New Vocabulary Knowledge Task
In Support of FAIR
 Other Resources:
 PMRN Help Desk and Just Read, Florida! staff
available 8:00-5:00 Monday through Friday
 FAIR technical tips, Users’ Guides, and frequently
asked questions are available at the FCRR website:
www.fcrr.org/fair/ and the Just Read, Florida!
website: www.justreadflorida.com/instrreading.asp
 LEaRN (Literacy Essentials and Reading Network)
www.justreadflorida.com/LEaRN: FAIR resources
for teachers, coaches, and principals which include
training videos and clips of master trainers
administering FAIR to students.
© 2011 Florida Department of Education
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For more detailed information
regarding the PMRN:
 The PMRN User’s Guides located at:

www.fcrr.org/pmrn/userguides.shtm

There is a section that provides an Overview of Reports and
a section that provides an Explanation of Score Types
 Complete Power Points can be found on the PMRN
website: www.fcrr.org/pmrn/

Topics include:
 K-2 Data Entry
 K-2 Electronic Scoring Tool
 3-12 Web-based Assessment Module (WAM)
 School Level Users 1, 2, 3
 Phone: 850-644-0931 or 866-471-5019
 Email: helpdesk@fcrr.org
In summary, remember…
 FAIR was designed to inform instruction.
 FAIR data are just one part of the puzzle. Teachers
bring information from daily instruction that provides
additional, important information.
 As FCRR gains more experience with the data and
collects data statewide, we will be able to provide
guidelines on what are ‘typical’ scores at each grade
level or what is a ‘good’ percentage to have in the high
success zone (green zone).
 We will make comparisons to the State Mean scores
and percentages at the end of each AP
 New 3-12 Tech Manual available at end of summer,
2011.
Thank you for your time and attention!
Any Questions?
41