Glens Colman
Director of Curriculum
Carroll Lower School
May 2013
May, 2013
Carroll School Belief Statement
Smart children with language learning disabilities
become successful students given proper instruction
within a positive environment.
Agenda
 1. What is assessment?
 2. Why do we assess?
 3. How does Carroll assess its students?
 4. How is assessment information used at Carroll?
What is Assessment?
 Assessment is the process of collecting data for the
purpose of:
 (1) Specifying and verifying problems
 (2) Making decisions about students
Testing ≠ Assessment
 School personnel sometimes equate testing and
assessment. Testing consists of administering a
particular set of questions to an individual or group of
individuals to obtain a score. That score is the end
product of testing. A test is only one of several
assessment techniques or procedures for gathering
information. During the process of assessment, data
from observations, recollections, tests, and professional
judgments all come into play.
Assessment in Special and Inclusive Education, 11th Edition, p. 13
To Consider: The Whole Child
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Cognition
Language
Attention
Executive Functioning
Memory
Visual-Spatial
Visual-Motor
Logic
Speech
Content-Area Achievement
Background Experience/Educational Opportunity
Motivation/Interests/Social/Emotional
Characteristics of Assessments
 Standardized:
 A test in which the administration, scoring, and interpretation
procedures are standard or set; usually norm-referenced meaning
that norms have been established so scores can be interpreted in
terms of validated referent.
 Criterion Referenced:
 A test linked to predefined content and designed to measure
student achievement of that content.
 Measures that are used to determine if a student can demonstrate
their knowledge by reaching a specified performance level (i.e
criteria) on a task.
 Give a picture of whether a student does or doesn’t have a particular
skill
Types of Assessments
 Screening
 Diagnostic
 Progress Monitoring
 Outcomes
Adapted from Pamela E. Hook, Ph.D.
SCREENING
 Purpose: To identify children in need of extra
instructional supports
 Often given to a large number of individuals-needs to be
efficient
 Examples: Pre-Literacy Skills Screening
Adapted from Pamela E. Hook, Ph.D.
DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT
 Purpose: To determine student’s specific instructional
needs
 Often involves in-depth individual assessment
 Examples: CELF-4, CTOPP
Adapted from Pamela E. Hook, Ph.D.
PROGRESS MONITORING
 Purpose: Ensure that adequate progress is achieved
throughout the year - also called Formative or Dynamic
Assessment
 Involves repeated assessment
 Examples: Fry Words, DIBELS, Benchmarker, MAP
Adapted from Pamela E. Hook, Ph.D.
OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT
 Purpose: To evaluate overall outcomes - also called
Summative Assessment
 Examples: MCAS, GRADE, SAT
Adapted from Pamela E. Hook, Ph.D.
Assessment at Carroll
Diagnostic
Testing
Carroll
Assessment
Battery
Carroll
CurriculumBased
Assessments
Teacher
Observation
and Classroom
Assessments
Review of Scoring: Definitions
 Raw Score:
 The number of correct responses or any original data obtained by a
student on a test.
 Standard Scores (SS)
 A score derived from comparing a raw score to scores of children of
the same age (based on the normal curve – often has a mean of 100
and a standard deviation of 15)
 Scaled Scores
 A derived score similar to a standard score (often has a mean of 10
and a standard deviation of 3)
Adapted from Pamela E. Hook, Ph.D. and http://www.wrightslaw.com/links/glossary.assessment.htm
Testing Terms
 Percentile Ranks (PR)
 How the student scored when compared to other children who are
the same age or grade. Percentage of scores that fall below a point
on a score distribution; for example, a score at the 75th percentile
indicates that 75% of students obtained that score or lower
 Stanines
 A standard score between 1 and 9, with a mean of 5 and a standard
deviation of 2. The first stanine is the lowest scoring group and the
9th stanine is the highest scoring group.
 Age and Grade Equivalents*
 The age or grade for which a raw score is the average score
 Composite Scores*
 Total score made up of sum of scores on two or more subtests
*Interpret with caution
Adapted from Pamela E. Hook, Ph.D.
Adapted from GRADE Test by Isabel B. Phillips, Ed.D.
Level 1
Diagnostic Testing
In order to admit a student to the Carroll School, our
Admissions Department must receive important
diagnostic information about that student. That
information may include (but is not limited to);
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Cognitive Testing (WISC-4)
Academic Testing (ex. WIAT-III or Woodcock-Johnson)
Memory Testing(WRAML2, Rey-Osterrieth)
Speech and Language Testing: (PPVT-4, CELF-4)
Motor Testing: (VMI)
Executive Functioning (BRIEF, NEPSY-II, Delis-Kaplan)
Social-Emotional: (BASC-2, CBCL)
Level 2:
Carroll Annual Assessments
 Purposes:
 To assess outcomes in achievement relative to the baseline performance in
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the instructionally relevant dimensions of phonological skills, decoding
accuracy and speed.
To monitor progress and inform instructional group/planning from year-to
year.
To understand how well a child is applying newly learned skills.
To analyze errors and determine appropriate intervention strategies.
To understand how an individual performs relative to same-age peers
across the nation (percentile rank).
To evaluate our curriculum and make sure we are effectively teaching
students what they need to know to be effective learners.
Facts: Carroll Annual Assessment
 The CAA is a battery of standardized assessments that, in combination, take a
close look at the skills required to be an effective learner.
 The battery has been developed in response to findings from the National
Reading Panel
 The battery represents a combination of individual and group administered
assessments.
 The battery is administered during the spring to all students at Carroll *
 * Subtests administered may vary by the age and testing history of a student
National Reading Panel Findings
Reading
Fluency
Phonics
Phonemic
Awareness
Vocabulary
Reading
Comprehension
Components of Reading
Phonemic
Awareness
• Awareness and
understanding
of sounds.
Phonics
• Correspondence
between sounds
and letters.
Reading Fluency
• Reading aloud
with speed,
accuracy, and
proper
expressions
Vocabulary
• Knowledge of
words.
Comprehension
• Understanding
discourse and
text.
Carroll Annual Assessments
Comprehensi
ve Test of
Phonological
Processing
(CTOPP)
NorthWest
Evaluation
Associaton
(NWEA)
Group
Mathematical
Assessment
and
Diagnostic
Evaluation
(GMADE )
Woodcock
Reading
Mastery Test
(WRMT)
CARROLL
ASSESSMENTS
Rapid
Automatic
Naming/Rapi
d Alternating
Stimulus
(RAN/RAS)
Group
Reading
Assessment
and
Diagnostic
Evaluation
(GRADE)
Test of Word
Reading
Efficiency
(TOWRE)
Comprehensive Test of
Phonological Processing (CTOPP)
Assesses phonological awareness (the awareness and access to the
phonological structure of oral language) and phonological memory
(the ability to code information phonologically for temporary storage
in working or short-term memory).
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Elison: measures the ability to delete individual phonemes from
words presented orally and to reintegrate the remaining sounds into a
new word. Highly correlated to early reading and spelling skill
acquisition.
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Say /clump/. Now say /clump/ without the /k/
Segmenting Words: measures the ability to isolate and separate all of
the phonemes in a spoken word by pronouncing the isolated
phonemes in sequence after hearing and pronouncing the whole word.
This skill highly correlates with word analysis skills or “sounding-out.”
Rapid Automatic Naming/Rapid
Alternating Stimulus (RAN/RAS)
 Measures how quickly and efficiently a student is able to retrieve
phonological information from long-term or permanent memory.
Rapid naming is highly correlated with acquisition of reading fluency
and comprehension skills.
 Colors
 Numbers,
 Objects,
 Letters,
 2-Set (letters and numbers)
Woodcock Reading Mastery TestRevised (WRMT)
An untimed test that assesses the student’s accuracy and range of
sophistication in pronouncing complex real words and nonsense words.
 The Word Identification (WI) tests requires a natural sounding reading of
a list of progressively difficult real words. This untimed task measures the
accuracy of a student’s recognition of both decodable words and sight words.
 The Word Attack (WA) test requires the student to produce a natural
sounding reading of a list of progressively pseudo words that follow
predictable English spelling patterns. This untimed task measures how well
a student had learned and can apply phonetic and structural analysis
strategies to unknown words.
Test of Word Reading Efficiency
(TOWRE)
This timed test is an efficient way of monitoring the two kinds of word
reading skills that are critical in overall reading ability: the ability to
accurately recognize familiar words in whole units (sight words) quickly,
and the ability to “sound out” words quickly.
 The Sight Word Sight Word Efficiency (SWE) subtest, taps not only the
accuracy, but also automaticity of real word recognition and speed of
retrieval.
 The Phonemic Decoding Efficiency (PDE) subtest, taps not only the
accuracy, but also the automaticity in applying phonetic and structural
analysis strategies to unknown words.
Parent Report (Word Reading)
Group Reading Assessment and
Diagnostic Evaluation (GRADE)
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Group administered reading assessment
Vocabulary & Word Meaning, Sentence Comprehension, Passage
Comprehension, Listening Comprehension
Parent Report(GRADE)
Carroll Math Assessments
 Group Mathematical Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation
(GMADE)
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Group administered math assessment
Concepts & Communication, Operations & Computation, Process
&Applications
 Symphony Benchmarker/Track My Progress
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The Symphony Math Benchmarker is an untimed, computer adaptive
assessment which provides a benchmark measure of overall mathematics
learning against the Common Core State Standards. CCSS fluency standards.
Parent Report- GMADE
Symphony Benchmarker/
Track My Progress
2012-2013
Fall
Winter
Spring
2012-2013
Fall
Winter
Spring
Standard Score
Percentile
Level 3
Curriculum-Based Assessments
 Measure how a student is responding to the
curriculum. Aligned with curriculum in that students
are being tested specifically on what and how they are
being taught.
 Help to provide diagnostic data, monitor progress and
make educational decisions
 Is usually criterion-referenced
 Help teachers to understand trends in a student’s
learning.
Language CBA Form
Phonemic
Awareness
Rhyme
Words
PsuedoWord
Decoding
Sight Words
(Fry)
Sept‘12
Dec. ‘12
March ‘13
June ‘13
/35: (%)
/35: (%)
/35: (%)
/35: (%)
/10: (%)
/10: (%)
/10: (%)
/10: (%)
L1: /20 (%)
L2: /20 (%)
L3: /20 (%)
L1: /20 (%)
L2: /20 (%)
L3: /20 (%)
L1: /20 (%)
L2: /20 (%)
L3: /20 (%)
L1: /20 (%)
L2: /20 (%)
L3: /20 (%)
(report in
bundles of 50)
(report in
bundles of 50)
(report in
bundles of 50)
(report in
bundles of 50)
L1 = /15
L2 = /15
L3 = /15
L4 = /15
L1 = /15
L2 = /15
L3 = /15
L4 = /15
Morphologi
c
Awareness
L1 = /15
L2 = /15
L3 = /15
L4 = /15
Fluency:
Read Naturally
Read Naturally
Gr. Benchmark:
wcpm
Read Naturally
Gr. Benchmark:
wcpm
Read Naturally
Gr. Benchmark:
wcpm
L1: /20 (%)
L2: /20 (%)
L3: /20 (%)
L1: /20 (%)
L2: /20 (%)
L3: /20 (%)
L1: /20 (%)
L2: /20 (%)
L3: /20 (%)
Spelling
L1 = /15
L2 = /15
L3 = /15
L4 = /15
Read Naturally
Gr.
Benchmark:
wcpm
L1: /20 (%)
L2: /20 (%)
L3: /20 (%)
Language CBA Descriptions
 Phonemic Awareness and Rhyme: Measures the ability to identify and manipulate
sound. Skills include; syllable blending, initial sound, phoneme blending, phoneme
segmentation, rhyme
 Decoding/Encoding: Measures the ability for students to use patterns and
rules to identify words in reading and create words through spelling. Carroll
School OG levels include:
 L1: Base + AS prefixes or inflected suffix (runner)
 L2: Base + AS, most common Latin prefix and suffix (precooked)
 L3: assimilated prefixes and up to 2 suffixes, some incongruent syllable
boundaries (artistic)
 L4: Base + stress shifts ( vowel change), “unfair Latinate endings”
(magician)
Language CBA Descriptions (Cont.)
 Fry words: measures the ability to quickly identify “sight” or known words that
occur frequently in reading. Words are bundled in group s of 50 by level of
frequency used in English. Student must make less than 5 errors to master a
bundle.
 Morphological Awareness: measures the ability to break down words by their
parts (i.e suffixes, roots and prefixes). 4 bundles of 15 each with increasing
difficulty
 Fluency: Measures the ability to read quickly and accurately. Read Naturally
benchmarks used to calibrate oral reading progress against a grade level
standard.
 Writing: Assessments that use rubrics to score
Progress Monitoring 2013-2014
Progress monitoring tools will continue to include both
standardized and criterion-references forms.
 Pilot NWEA MAP testing which is a computerized set
of assessments, similar to the Symphony Benchmarker,
that measure individual progress in the areas of reading,
language and math.
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Improve efficiency of assessment
Provide mechanism for assessment to inspire instruction
Move away from paper/pencil/bubble sheets
Preserve teaching time
Improve communication with parents
Report with greater detail.
Team Collaboration
The Carroll School has many mechanisms for gathering
and sharing information about students.
 Robust Student Information System
 Team-to-Team Transfers
 Teacher-Tutor Meetings
 Weekly Team Meetings
 Regular Coaching Meetings
 Child Study
Case Study
JOHNNY
Admissions
 When Johnny first enters Carroll, our Admissions
Department does a thorough review of a Johnny’s “file”
which includes….
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Parent Questionnaire
Previous School Reports
Diagnostic Testing *
Admissions Testing *
Diagnostic Testing
Information gathered from diagnostic evaluations
may include (but is not limited to…)
 background information review
 cognitive profile
 academic skills
 memory skills
 speech and language skills
 motor skills
 executive functioning skills
 social-emotional skills
Johnny’s File Read- Cognitive
Testing
COGNITIVE
WISC IV
Verbal
Comprehension
Similarities
Vocabulary
Information
Perceptual Reasoning
Block Design
Picture Concepts
Matrix Reasoning
Working Memory
Digit Span
Letter-# seq.
Processing
Coding
Symbol Search
ACHIEVEMENT
WIAT Basic Reading
Composite
Early reading
Word Reading
Pseudo- Word
Alphabet Writing
Fluency
SS=118
PR=73%ile
SS=108
PR=70%ile
11@63%ile
12@75%ile
12@75%ile
SS=121
PR=91%ile
14@91%ile
15 @ 95%ile
11@63%ile
SS=94
PR= 34%ile
8@25%ile
10@50%ile
100 @ 50%ile
10 @ 50%ile
10@50%ile
SS=88
PR=21%ile
98@45%ile
83@13%ile
94@34%ile
90@25%ile
Johnny’s File Read-Memory Testing
MEMORY
WRAML-II
Sentence Memory
Story memory- recall
Story MemoryDelayed Recall
Story MemoryRecognition
Verbal LearningImmediate Recall
Verbal LearningDelayed Recall
Verbal LearningRecognition
Picture Memory
RCFT (Rey)
Immediate Recall
Delayed Recall
Identify component
pieces of test
12@75%ile
11@63%ile
11@63%ile
5@5%ile
10@50%ile
38%ile
42%ile
7%ile (not crossing midline and using a fragmented approach when
required to demonstrate an intersecting diagonal.
Johnny’s File Read- Achievement
Testing
ACHIEVEMENT
WIAT Basic Reading Composite
SS=88
PR=21%ile
Early reading
Word Reading
Pseudo- Word
Alphabet Writing Fluency
98@45%ile
83@13%ile
94@34%ile
90@25%ile
WIAT- Written Expression
Composite
SS=94
PR=14% ile
Spelling
WIAT Math Composite
84@14%ile
SS=9
PR= 47%ile
Numerical Operations
Math Reasoning
99@ 47%ile
Math Problem Solving
GORT
Rate
Accuracy
Fluency
Comprehension
CTOPP
Phonological Awareness Composite
96 @39%ile
Discontinued
Phonological Memory Composite
SS=10
PR= 50%ile
Rapid Naming Composite
SS=88
PR= 21%ile
Alternate Phonological Awareness
124 @ 95%ile
Alternate Rapid Naming
82 @ 12%ile
Elison
Blending
Memory for Digits
Rapid Digit Naming
Nonword Repetition
Rapid Letter Naming
Rapid Color Naming
Phoneme Reversal
Rapid Object Naming
Blending Nonwords
Segmenting Words
Segmenting Nonwords
15@95%ile
15@95%ile
9@37%ile
9@25%ile
11@63%ile
8@25%ile
5@5%ile
9
9
15
9
13
96 @ 39ile
SS=130
PR=98%ile
Johnny’s File Read-Phonological
Testing
CTOPP
Phonological
Awareness
Composite
Phonological
Memory Composite
Rapid
Naming
Composite
Alternate
Phonological
Awareness
Alternate
Rapid
Naming
Elison
Blending
Memory for Digits
Rapid Digit Naming
Nonword Repetition
Rapid Letter Naming
Rapid Color Naming
Phoneme Reversal
Rapid
Object
Naming
Blending Nonwords
Segmenting Words
Segmenting
Nonwords
NEPSY II
Comprehension of
Instructions
SS=130
PR=98%ile
SS=100
PR=50%ile
SS=88
PR=21%ile
124 @ 95%ile
82 @ 12%ile
15@95%ile
15@95%ile
9@37%ile
9@25%ile
11@63%ile
8@25%ile
5@5%ile
9
9
15
9
13
8 @ 25%ile
Johnny’s File Read-Speech and
Language Testing
SPEECH AND
LANGUAGE
CELF-4 (Receptive)
Understanding
Spoken Paragraphs
EOWPVT-IV
(expressive)
SS= 12
PR= 75%ile
12 @75%ile
94@34%ile
Johnny’s File Read-Motor Testing
MOTOR
VMI
93@32%ile
Johnny’s File Read- Executive
Functioning Testing
EXECUTIVE
FUNCTIONING
BRIEF
Shifting Behavior
Planning and
organizing
Inhibiting behavior
Emotional Control
Working Memory
98%ile
98%ile
93%ile
83%ile
96%ile
Johnny’s File Read-SocialEmotional Testing
SOCIALEMOTIONAL
BASC
Hyperactivity
84%ile
Anxiety
Depression
Somatization
91%ile
76%ile
82%ile
Johnny’s Admissions Testing
What do we know about Johnny?
• Show intellectual strengths in in visual processing, visuospatial reasoning and
construction, and vocabulary knowledge.
• Shows solidly average verbal and visual memory skills; however, his failure to
recognize words that he had just recalled verbally may suggest that he did not
fully attend to this task.
• Relative weaknesses with working memory and processing speed
• Has knowledge of phonological decoding rules and letter-sound
correspondence, but has difficulty applying his knowledge to the task of
reading. Lack of automaticity is present.
• Spelling is a noted weakness and the presence of many letter reversals in words
(not in single letters) may be a result of attention. Not automatic with high
frequency words.
Johnny
• Math skills are in the average range but still slightly below where we would
expect him to perform given his intellectual capabilities. Has a good
understanding of number sense but needs additional support with place value
and regrouping..
• Speech and language skills are average with relative weakness in following
complex directions.
• Fine motor skills are intact
• Testing performance also indicates difficulty in ability to maintain attention to
task. Impulsive approach to testing.
• Johnny has significant issues with executive functioning planning/organizing,
shifting and inhibition.
• Johnny’s learning issues have had an impact on his confidence and self-concept.
Grouping
 Once Johnny is accepted, a team of faculty members,
including the division head, the educational director,
department heads, counselors and teachers meet to
review student information and make appropriate
classroom groups.
 Cognitive profile
 Reading levels
 Math levels
 Executive Functioning
 Social Skills
Recommendations for
Johnny’s Program
 Focus on building and applying decoding/encoding skills
 Continued work with fluency.
 Focused work on place value and operations.
 Targeted intervention with working memory and processing.
 Considerations for challenges with attention(sensory breaks,
information in smaller chunks, active work) and executive
functioning weaknesses (pre-teaching, re-teaching, templates)
 Integrate strategies for building self-esteem.
Progress Monitoring
A student’s progress is monitored continuously by
teachers, department heads and other administrators.
 Daily/Weekly- OG lessons, teacher observations,
classroom assignments and work samples
 Quarterly: All the above and CBA’s
 Yearly: All of the above and annual assessment results
 Every Three Years: All of the above and updated
diagnostic testing.
Longitudinal Annual Assessment
Longitudinal GRADE Assessment
Longitudinal GMADE Assessment
THANK YOU!!!!