Steve Willy
Wilcob Education Consulting
National Partnerships Schools’ Forum
Feb 21 2012
1. Reading assessment should be informed by a
deep understanding of what we now know about
the reading process
2. There needs to be some serious evaluation of the
efficacy of the assessments we are using.
3. There should be a dynamic relationship between
assessment and instruction on an ongoing basis
(formative assessment).
ef·fi·ca·cy
Noun
[ef-i-kuh-see]
The capacity to produce the intended result.
Source:
1. Reading assessment should be informed by
a deep understanding of what we now know
about the reading process.
How we conceptualise “reading” is a critical
consideration when we decide on how to
assess and how to nurture our students as
readers.
Our conception of reading has changed ...
so must our assessment of reading!!
Verbatim recall of recently read text
Effective identification of details and main ideas
Employment of prior knowledge to construct meaning
Critical appraisal of meaning
Comprehend and use constructed meaning of texts
(including multimedia and internet) to conduct related
tasks and responses



Reading is the construction of meaning from
text.
It includes the use of skills, strategies and
prior knowledge to understand and critically
appraise what is read.
Reading is supported by reader motivation
and positive affect.

When verbatim recall was considered accomplished
reading ◦ then matching reader spoken or written recall with the
original text was effective assessment.

When good reading was understood to be the
identification of main ideas and supporting details ◦ then correctly selecting main ideas and details from
competing multiple choices was suitable assessment.

If, however, a good reader constructs meaning and
uses the constructed meaning in a task –
◦ then assessment should reflect student achievement in
related terms.
Remember
important
information
and carry it
forward
Solve
Words
Adjust
Use a range of
strategies to read and
understand words
Critique
Think
critically
about the
text
Systems
of
Strategic
Actions
Notice
aspects of the
writer’s craft
and text
Think about
structure
what the
writer
means but
has not
stated
Analyse
Infer
VELS
Take action in flexible
ways to solve problems
or fit purpose and genre
Think about
what may
happen next
Adjust
present
understanding
to
accommodate
new knowledge
Synthesise
Predict
12
2. There needs to be some serious evaluation
of the efficacy of the assessments we are
using.
Contrasts between how readers think and typical assessment practices
New views of the reading process tell us that . . .
Yet when we assess reading comprehension, we . . .
Prior knowledge is an important determinant of reading
comprehension.
Mask any relationship between prior knowledge and reading
comprehension by using lots of short passages on lots of topics.
A complete story or text has structural and topical integrity.
Use short texts that seldom approximate the structural and
topical integrity of an authentic text.
Inference is an essential part of the process of
comprehending units as small as sentences.
Predominantly rely on literal comprehension text items.
The diversity in prior knowledge across individuals as well
as the varied causal relations in human experiences invites
many possible inferences to fit a text or question.
The ability to vary reading strategies to fit the text and the
situation is a hallmark of an expert reader.
The ability to synthesise information from various parts of
the text and different texts is a hallmark of an expert reader.
Use multiple-choice items with only one correct answer, even
when many of the responses might, under certain conditions, be
plausible.
Seldom assess how and when students vary the strategies they
use during normal reading, studying, or when the going gets
tough.
Rarely go beyond finding the main idea of a paragraph or
passage.
The ability to ask good questions of text, as well as to
answer them, is a hallmark of an expert reader.
Seldom ask students to create or select questions about a
selection they may have just read.
All aspects of a reader’s experience, including habits that
arise from school and home, influence reading
comprehension.
Reading involves the orchestration of many skills that
complement one another in a variety of ways.
Rarely view information on reading habits and attitudes as
being as important information about performance.
Skilled readers are fluent; their word identification is
sufficiently automatic to allow most cognitive resources to
be used for comprehension.
Learning from text involves the restructuring, application
and flexible use of knowledge in new situations.
Rarely consider fluency as an index of skilled reading.
Use tests that fragment reading into isolated skills and report
performance on each.
Often ask readers to respond to the text’s declarative knowledge
rather than to apply it to near and far transfer tasks.
New views of the reading
process tell us that . . .
Yet when we assess reading
comprehension, we . . .
Prior knowledge is an
important determinant of
reading comprehension.
Mask any relationship
between prior knowledge and
reading comprehension by
using lots of short passages on
lots of topics.
A complete story or text has
Use short texts that seldom
structural and topical integrity. approximate the structural and
topical integrity of an
authentic text.
Inference is an essential for
comprehending units as small
as sentences.
Predominantly rely on literal
comprehension text items.
New views of the reading process tell us
that . . .
Yet when we assess reading
comprehension, we . . .
The diversity in prior knowledge across
individuals as well as the varied causal
relations in human experiences invites
many possible inferences to fit a text or
question.
Use multiple-choice items with only one
correct answer, even when many of the
responses might, under certain conditions,
be plausible.
The ability to synthesise information from Rarely go beyond finding the main idea of a
various parts of the text and different texts paragraph or passage.
is a hallmark of an expert reader.
The ability to vary reading strategies to fit Seldom assess how and when students vary
the text and the situation is a hallmark of the strategies they use during normal
an expert reader.
reading, studying or when the going gets
tough.
New views of the reading process
tell us that . . .
Yet when we assess reading
comprehension, we . . .
The ability to ask good questions of Seldom ask students to create or
text, as well as to answer them, is a select questions about a selection
hallmark of an expert reader.
they may have just read.
All aspects of a reader’s experience,
including habits that arise from
school and home, influence reading
comprehension.
Rarely view information on reading
habits and attitudes as being as
important information about
performance.
Reading involves the orchestration Use tests that fragment reading into
of many skills that complement one isolated skills and report
another in a variety of ways.
performance on each.
New views of the reading
process tell us that . . .
Yet when we assess reading
comprehension, we . . .
Skilled readers are fluent; their Rarely consider fluency as an
word identification is
index of skilled reading.
sufficiently automatic to allow
most cognitive resources to be
used for comprehension.
Learning from text involves
the restructuring, application,
and flexible use of knowledge
in new situations.
Often ask readers to respond to
the text’s declarative
knowledge rather than to apply
it to near and far transfer tasks.
By Kate Chopin
1.
“Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her.”
This sentence shows that Mrs Mallard was
a)
b)
c)
d)
2.
What did Mrs Mallard feel when she first heard of her
husband’s death?
a)
b)
c)
d)
3.
not sure of what to do next.
afraid to go downstairs.
sad about the death of her husband.
looking forward to the future.
Freedom
Grief
Afraid
Strange
What is this story mainly about?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Train travel can sometimes be dangerous.
Sometimes people are repressed in relationships.
Death often is sudden and unexpected.
Sometimes tragedy has unexpected consequences.

What kind of food do rabbits enjoy the most?
 Potatoes
 Lettuce
 Oranges
 Celery
First Grade Takes a Test, Miriam Cohen. 1980. Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers.
3. There should be a dynamic relationship
between assessment and instruction on an
ongoing basis (formative assessment)

The assessment should look like the instruction –
NOT the other way around.

Dylan William

John Hattie
◦ Formative Evaluation – 3rd out of 134 approaches
influencing student achievement.
◦ Feedback – 10th
Purpose
To reduce the discrepancies between current
understanding/performance and a desired goal.
This discrepancy can
be reduced by:
Teachers
Providing appropriate, challenging
and specific goals
OR
Assisting students to reach goals
through formative assessment
systems
Students
Increased effort and employment of
more effective strategies
OR
Abandoning, blurring or lowering the
goals
Effective Formative
assessment systems answer
three questions:
Feed-Up
Where am I
going?
Feedback
How am I doing?
Feed-Forward
Where am I going
next?
Hattie, J. Visible Learning (2009)
Formative
Summative
 Everyday instructional practice
 At the end of instruction
 Instant feedback for teacher and
student
 Feedback often delayed
 Informs adjustments to teaching
and student practice
 Informs future curriculum
 Focuses on the
task/understanding
 Focuses on student achievement
at a specific moment
 Feedback for improving student
achievement
 Informs future placements and
directions for individual students
 Feedback to teachers to support
planning and collaboration
(internal accountability)
 Supports external accountability
measures


We need to develop assessments that
measure the complexity of student
achievement.
Gather information about what students are
doing when they read.
◦ It is impossible for teachers to know what students
are thinking when they read, unless they tell us
through conversation or writing.
Remember
important
information
and carry it
forward
Solve
Words
Adjust
Use a range of
strategies to read and
understand words
Critique
Think
critically
about the
text
Notice
aspects
of the
writer’s
craft and
text
structure
Analyse
Systems
of
Strategic
Actions
Take action in flexible
ways to solve problems
or fit purpose and genre
Think about
what may
happen next
Think aboutAdjust
what the present
understanding
writer
means but to
accommodate
has not
new knowledge
stated
Infer
Synthesise
Predict

Readers experience empathy...

Readers experience memorable emotional
response...

Readers experience the aesthetic

Readers ponder new facets or twists...

Readers generate new ideas and imagine new
possibilities...

Readers focus, advocate and evaluate...

Readers recognise patterns and symbols...

Readers extrapolate from details in the text...

Boar Out There by Cynthia Rylandt

Readers experience empathy...

Readers experience memorable emotional
response...

Readers experience the aesthetic

Readers ponder new facets or twists...

Readers generate new ideas and imagine new
possibilities...

Readers focus, advocate and evaluate...

Readers recognise patterns and symbols...

Readers extrapolate from details in the text...
But when she leans on the fence, looking into
the trees, her eyes are full and she leaves wet
patches on the splintery wood. She is sorry for
the torn ears of the boar and sorry that he has
no golden horn.

I can see how Jenny would feel sad about the
boar. She thought he was majestic and
powerful and he turned out to be bloody,
alone and frightened.
And now the pounding was horrible, too loud
and confusing for Jenny. Horrible. She stood
stiff with wet eyes and knew she could always
pray, but for some reason didn’t.
He came through the trees so fast that she had
no time to scream or run. And he was there
before her.

Jenny is now in a terrible situation. I wish she
had not gone there. I think the boar might
injure her, or even worse. I wish she had not
taken such a risk.
She imagined him running heavily through the
trees, ignoring the sharp thorns and briars that
raked his back and sprang away trembling.

The author creates a powerful image with this
sentence. One can easily visualise the thorns
as they “raked his back”. Jenny is imagining
the power and majesty of the boar as the
thorns “sprang away trembling” and the
reader is also invited into the image.
High in the trees a bluejay yelled, and,
suddenly, it was over. Jenny stood like a rock as
the boar wildly flung his head and in terror
bolted past her.
Past her ...

This is incredible. It is the boar who is afraid.
Jenny must be shocked at this.
One hot summer day she went to find the boar. No
one in Glen Morgan had ever gone past the old black
Dodge and beyond, as far as she knew. But the boar
was there somewhere, between those awful trees, and
his dark green eyes waited for someone.
Jenny felt it was she.

It takes a particular kind of person to do what
Jenny did. Some people take risks unthinkingly and
others overcome their fears to pursue something
that they want or think is important. Still others
would never consider taking a risk like that, even if
they were fascinated by what they might find. If
this all goes wrong it could change Jenny.
One hot summer day she went to find the boar. No
one in Glen Morgan had ever gone past the old
black Dodge and beyond, as far as she knew. But
the boar was there somewhere, between those
awful trees, and his dark green eyes waited for
someone.
Jenny felt that it was she.

Jenny knows about the about the general
reputation of the boar in Glen Morgan but I can
understand her wanting to explore and learn
about him for herself. She is so fascinated by the
boar that she is curiously drawn to him.
High in the trees a bluejay yelled, and, suddenly, it
was over. Jenny stood like a rock as the boar wildly
flung his head and in terror bolted past her.
Past her...

Quite suddenly the author has created a significant
change in the story. Up to this moment the boar
has been terrifying, but in reality it is the boar that
is terrified. Most of the story is about Jenny fearing
and being fascinated by the boar, but now, just at
the end, it all changes. This is a key turning point
in the story.
But mostly she is sorry that he lives in fear of bluejays
and little girls, when everyone in Glen Morgan lives in
fear of him.

I think Cynthia Rylandt is writing about how people
often fabricate fears irrationally and allow them to
dominate how they live their lives. Everybody is
afraid of the boar. Jenny was so afraid of the boar
and now she feels sorry for him. He is nothing like
what she had imagined – “torn ears and ... no
golden horn”.


The assessment should look like the instruction –
NOT the other way around.
It is impossible for teachers to know what students
are thinking when they read, unless they tell us
through conversation or writing.
Pedagogy that supports substantive
conversation by students
Pedagogy that supports written
feedback from students
 Whole-class conversation protocols:
 Turn and Talk
 Think, Pair, Share
 Think, Pair, Write
 Sticky notes
 Conversational leads and prompts:
 “I agree/disagree with ...
because ...”
 “What I heard you say was ... is
that right?”
 “I agree with ..., but would like
to add ...”
 Conferring (teacher/student)
 Other informal writing tasks
 Writing to Learn activities (e.g.
exit slips, double-entry journals,
written conversations)
 Reciprocal Teaching
 Literature Circles/Book Clubs
 Readers Notebooks
 informal entries
 structured responses
 Record of Reading
 Assessment of motivation
 Student self-evaluation
 More formal writing tasks
 including essays, enquiry
projects, blogs and wikis
 Literature Circles/Book Clubs
 including blogs and wikis

Re-define “data”!

Formative assessment plan

Professional development
◦
◦
◦
◦

Reading process
Formative assessment strategies
Formative assessment plan
Resources to support teachers
Internal monitoring and collaboration
(accountability that really counts for our
students)
The examiner pipes and the teacher must dance—
and the examiner sticks to the old tune. If the
educational reformers really wish the dance altered
they must turn their attention from the dancers to
the musicians.
H.G. Wells (1892)

Indeed, but meanwhile … we can also dance
to our own tune.









Buckner, A. (2009). Notebook Connections – strategies for the reader’ notebook. Portland,
ME: Stenhouse
Chopin, K. (1894). The Story of an Hour
www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/
Frey, N. & Fisher, D. (2011). The Formative Assessment Action Plan – Practical steps to
more successful teaching and learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Hattie, J.A.C. (2009) Visible Learning. New York, NY: Routledge
Keene, E.O., (2011). Comprehension instruction grows up, in Daniels, H. (Ed.)
Comprehension Going Forward – where we are/what’s next. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Pinnell, G.S. & Fountas, I.C, (2010). The Continuum of Literacy Learning, Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann
Rylandt, C. (1988). Boar out there, in Every Living Thing. New York NY: Aladdin Paperbacks
Tovani, C. (2011). So What Do They Really Know? – Assessment that informs teaching and
learning. Portland, ME: Stenhouse
Valencia, S.W. & Pearson, P.D. (1987). Reading assessment: time for a change. The Reading
Teacher, 40(8), 726-732.
Mr Tucket by Gary Paulsen
“he had the scalps of many ‘victories’ braided
around the doorway to his lodge.”

What I’m wondering about this sentence right now
is what the heck does this mean!!? I honestly think
that it means that Braid had scalps from dead
people’s heads braided around his doorway. But
how do you braid scalps? That’s what I want to
know! If all I just said is true, then it probably
means that either Braid is a murderer or he just
likes souvenirs from his victims or both!
The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
“ She was beginning to recognize this thing that was
approaching to possess her, and she was striving
to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her
two white slender hands would have been.”

This is very worrying. I think that the thing that is
possessing Mrs Mallard is the idea of suicide. She
has just learnt that her husband is dead! I wish she
was not alone at this time. She is looking out of the
upstairs window. I think she might throw herself
down into the street.