Reading Assessment: A
Natural Fit for SLPs
Pat Howard, Ph.D.
Director of Assessment Programs
phoward@fcrr.org
www.fcrr.org/assessment
Purposes of Assessment

To Make Decisions About Students
– Eligibility for Services
 Special Education
 ESOL
– Instructional Planning and Support Needs
 Screening for Early Identification of Needs
 Diagnostics to Identify Strengths and Weaknesses
 Development of Academic Improvement Plans/Individual
Educational Plans
– Determine Effectiveness of Services
 Progress Monitoring to Produce Growth Charts
 Outcome Measures to Provide End-of-Year Evaluation

To Make Decisions About the System
– Program Evaluation
– Determine Needs, Continuation and/or Revisions for
Future Implementation
What Questions Do You Have That Can
Be Answered With Data From Reading
Assessments?
Are we meeting our
Standards and
Benchmarks for all
students?
 Are we able to identify
students at risk of
reading failure
 Do we have a method
for determining the
effectiveness of our
Dr. Marilyn Jackson-Rahming
reading programs?
Principal, Pineview El.

5 Key Areas of Knowledge
and Skill in Reading
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Fluency
Vocabulary
Comprehension Strategies
Identifying words
accurately and
fluently
Constructing
meaning
once words
are identified
The 4 Critical
Assessments
 Screening:
“First Alert”
 Progress Monitoring: “Growth Charts”
 Diagnostics:
“In-depth View”
 Outcome Measures: “Reaching Our
Goals”
Screening and Progress Monitoring
Grade
Kindergarten
First
Second
Third – Fifth
Reading Component
Assessed
Reading Skill Measure
DIBELS and FORF
Phonemic Awareness
Initial Sound, Phoneme
Segmentation
Phonics
Letter Naming, Nonsense Words
Phonemic Awareness
Phoneme Segmentation
Phonics
Letter Naming, Nonsense Words
Reading Fluency
Oral Reading
Phonics
Nonsense Words
Reading Fluency
Oral Reading
Reading Fluency
Oral Reading
Sixth - Eighth Reading Fluency
Comprehension
Florida Oral Reading
Mazes
Overview of DIBELS
Measures
Letter Naming Fluency
 Intended for students in
kindergarten through the
fall of first grade
 Provides a measure of a
student’s proficiency in
naming upper and lower
case letters
 Primarily an indicator of
risk
 Students identified at risk
should be instructed in
phonological awareness
and alphabetic principle
Probe 1
c
c
N
u
Q M u
h
S
i
n
b
e
N
F
f
o
a
K
k
g
p
k
p
a
H C
e
G D
b
w
F
i
h
O
x
j
I
K
x
t
Y
q
L
d
f
T
g
v
T
V Q
o
w
P
J
t
B
X
Z
v
U
P
R
l
V C
l
W
R
J
m O
z
D G
y
Z
y
A m X
z
H
S M E
q
n
j
s
W r
d
s
B
r
A
E
L
c
N
u
Q M
c
U Y
I
Total: ____/110
Overview of
DIBELS Measures
Initial Sounds Fluency
 This measure assesses a
student’s ability to
recognize and produce
the beginning sound(s) in
an orally presented word
 Administered through the
late winter of
kindergarten
 Students performing
below expectations in this
measure will benefit from
instruction in
phonological awareness
Overview of
DIBELS Measures
Phoneme Segmentation
Fluency
 Measures ability to
segment three- and fourphoneme words into their
individual phonemes
 The student must produce
verbally the individual
sounds in words presented
by the examiner
 It is administered in
kindergarten and first
grades
 It is a good predictor of
later reading achievement
and strengthened by
phonological awareness
activities
Overview of
DIBELS Measures
 Nonsense Word Fluency
 It taps the student’s
knowledge of letter-sound
correspondence and ability
to blend letters into words
(test of the alphabetic
principle)
 This measure is provided in
kindergarten, first and
second grades
 Students performing below
expectations will benefit
from activities focusing on
decoding
kik
kaj
lan
yuf
bub
wuv
nif
suv
yaj
tig
woj
fek
nul
pos
dij
nij
vec
yig
zof
mak
sig
av
zem
vok
sij
pik
al
dit
um
sog
faj
zin
og
viv
vus
nok
boj
tum
vim
wot
yis
zez
nom
feg
tos
mot
nen
joj
vel
sav
Overview of DIBELS
Measures and FORF
 Oral Reading Fluency
 measure of fluency in
oral reading of
connected text.
 Students in grades
one, two and three
will be administered
three passages from
grade-level text
 Students who are
weak in reading
fluency will often
experience difficulty
in comprehending
what they read
There was a robin’s nest outside our kitchen window. The
nest was in a tall bush. The mother robin sat in the nest all day
long. One day when I was watching, the mother bird flew
away. I saw the eggs she was sitting on. There were four blue
eggs.
I watched and watched. The eggs moved. I watched some
more. The eggs started to crack. Finally, the eggs hatched. I
saw four baby birds. The baby birds opened their beaks wide.
I heard them peeping. Soon the mother bird came back. Then
the mother robin put worms in their mouths.
Every day I watched the baby birds and their mother.
Pretty soon the babies were so fat there was no room for the
mother. Then one morning the nest was gone from the bush.
Overview of Mazes
 Reading
Comprehension
 Measure of fluency in
selecting appropriate
word to complete text
 For students in grades
6-8
 Score also influenced
by reading rate
 Group administered
 Predicts performance
on FCAT equally as
well as ORF
Reading is the most critical academic
skill students will learn and one of the
best predictors of overall success in
school and society. Therefore, reading
continues to be a (cabbage / leading
/ thruway) topic at the national level
and (at / is / my) the school level.
There is no (snowshoe / question /
practical) that teaching all of our
students (or / me / to) read by the
end of third (grade / spoon / below),
as mandated under NCLB is a (following
/ challenge / paperclip). To
accomplish this task, assessments are
(belief / throws / needed) to help
educators efficiently…
Assessment Schedule
Kindergarten
Grade
Interval
1
2
3
4
First
1
2
3
Third -Eighth
Second
4
1
2
3
Initial Sounds
Fluency
Letter Naming
Fluency
Phoneme
Segmentation
Fluency
Nonsense Word
Fluency
Oral Reading
Fluency / Mazes
Assessments @ 45 day intervals
beginning with instructional days 20 - 29
4
1
2
-3 E 4
Screening and Progress Monitoring
Data Interpretation

Indicators of Effectiveness
– Effectiveness of core and interventions
Identification of schools that are “beating
the odds”
 Identification of greatest needs

– Individual, classroom, grade, school

Growth profiles –
– Individual, classroom, grade, school levels
Risk Status
Colors provide a quick indication of the student’s
progress and the risk that a student has of not
achieving the expected level of proficiency.
Low Risk
“Good to Go”
Moderate Risk
Caution
High Risk
DANGER!
Are We Meeting Our Reading Goals to…
1. Maintain students on grade level through effective core program, and
2. Decrease students in need of additional support through strong and
effective supplemental strategies and intensive interventions?
Beginning
Middle
End
The Results of Effective Core,
Supplemental, and Intensive Instruction
Assessment
1
2
3
4
Overall
Level of
Effectiveness
Indicator of Effectiveness
Paul
Maria
100%
Janet
Marcel
Gria
66%
Joseph
Carmen
Tabitha
Lilly
Johana
John
60%
The Progress Monitoring and
Reporting Network (PMRN)
 Reports
Targeted to Principals
– School Reports
 Assessment Calendar
 Recommended Level of Instruction
 School Status Report
 Student Instructional Level Report
How to Use the Calendar
• Avoid overlap of activities
during testing windows
• Plan for any training
associated with assessment
• Make sure all test materials
are on hand
Teacher A
Teacher B
Teacher C
Teacher D
Teacher E
How to Use Recommended Level
of Instruction Report
• Identify instructional support needs of
students by grade and teacher
• Determine additional resources needed
for grade levels or teachers
• Prioritize coaching services
How to Use the School Status Report
• Determine, by grade level, by measure,
student instructional needs
• Make decisions about areas on which
to focus professional development
• Determine probability of FCAT
performance by third graders
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Student 4
Student 5
Student 6
Student 7
Student 8
Student 9
Student 10
Student 11
Student 12
Student 13
Student 14
Student 15
Student 16
Student 17
Student 18
Student 19
Student 20
Student 21
Student 22
Student 23
Student 24
Grade
Status
Report
PMRN Examples
 Reports
Targeted to Coaches,
Teachers and SLP’s
– Class Reports
 Class Status Report
 Progress Tracking Tool
 Class Progress Monitoring Report
– Student Reports
 Student Progress Monitoring Report
Class Status Report
The Class Status Report is
the first report a teacher
sees.
It provides a “snapshot” or
quick indication of the class
progress and a quick
indication of each child’s
success. It also has links to
other reports.
The Class Status Report
helps answer the question
of who is at risk.
Recommended
Instructional Level
• Combination of
scores from each of
the individual
measures
Individual Measures
• Target, next
target, student
score, risk level
indicated in color
and notation
Progress Tracking Tool
The Progress Tracking Tool allows
the teacher to view the progress
of all of the students at one time.
From the graph, it is easily
determined which students are at
risk and which of them are not
making significant gains. The list
can be sorted in a variety of ways
and can exclude students who
have not been in the class for the
entire year.
This tool quickly identifies whether
other students are exhibiting
similar profiles.
Class Progress Monitoring Test
Report
The school’s Reading Coach
will assist teachers in reading
and interpreting the Box and
Whiskers graph.
This example shows the class
improved in nonsense word
fluency, but is not improving
at a rate to guarantee
success.
This report indicates whether
the students are making
adequate progress.
Student PMT Report
Compares
student
performance to
the classroom.
Using the PMRN for OPM
The 4 Critical
Assessments
 Progress
Monitoring: “Growth Charts”
 Screening: “First Alert”
 Diagnostics:
“In-depth View”
 Outcome Measures: “Reaching Our
Goals”
Diagnostic Tests

Purpose
– Provide additional, necessary diagnostic
information to plan effective instruction

An Integral Part of the Reading First
Assessment Plan
– Administered infrequently
– Used to supplement information from
screening, progress monitoring, and outcome
Diagnostic Tests

Instructional Utility
– Tests used to determine a reading learning disability do not
help to plan more effective instruction – ATI research
– Developing fluency in all aspects of the basic skills and
monitoring progress towards automaticity will alert
teachers to support needs of students
– Diagnostics should measure skills that can be directly
taught and that affect important reading outcomes: PA,
Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension
Strategies
– Other factors influencing reading outcomes: Motivation,
parental support – not assessed with diagnostics;
knowledge base, language ability, general intelligence –
not a specific part of reading instruction
Diagnostic Assessments of
Reading: 2nd Ed. (DAR)
Ages 5 – adult
 9 individually administered tests of the
components of reading and language
 No special qualifications to administer
 Untimed – approx. 40 min. per student
 Criterion referenced – mastery levels
 Materials: Teacher’s manual, response
record, student book

DAR – Information Provided







Word Meaning: oral vocabulary test as an estimate of
language and cognitive abilities; usually underestimates
student ability if they have a reading problem
Word Recognition, Word Analysis, Oral Reading,
Spelling: basic word reading skills
Print Awareness: basic concept in using printed word
Phonological Awareness: ability to hear sounds that
make up words
Letters and Sounds, Word Analysis, Spelling:
knowledge of letter-sound correspondences
Oral Reading: basic word reading skills, fluency, word
meanings, language, comprehension
Silent Reading Comprehension: basic word recognition
and analysis, background knowledge, language and
cognitive development
DAR and DIBELS
Area
DAR Measures
DIBELS Measures
Letter Identification
Naming Capital Letters; Naming Lower
Case Letters; Matching Letters;
Matching Words
Letter Naming Fluency
Phonological
Awareness
Rhyming words; Segmenting into
syllables; Initial and Final Consonant
Sounds; Auditory Blending of
phonemes
Initial Sound Fluency
Phoneme Segmentation
Fluency
Word Identification
Word Recognition
Decoding
Word Analysis
Consonant sounds and blends; short
vowel; silent E; digraphs; diphthongs;
etc.
Nonsense Word Fluency
Oral Reading
Oral Reading – accuracy & fluency
Oral Reading Fluency
Reading
Comprehension
Silent Reading Comprehension - retell
Spelling
Spelling Words
Vocabulary
Word Meaning
Fox in a Box (FIB)







Grades K - 3
4 Strands: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics,
Reading and Oral Expression, Listening and
Writing
Fall and spring administrations with same form
Teacher administration
Untimed – 35 minutes per child; 80 minutes per
class
Criterion referenced – benchmarked
Materials: Teacher’s guide, puppet, word lists,
books, student recording booklets
FIB Strands and Subtests

Phonemic Awareness – K
– Rhyme Recognition, Rhyme Generation, Syllable
Clapping, Initial Consonants, Final Consonants,
Blending, Segmenting

Phonics – K – 2
– Alphabet Recognition (Uppercase, Lowercase,
Vowels), Alphabet Writing, Spelling, Decoding (Real
and Non-words)

Reading and Oral Expression – K – 2
– Sight Words, Reading (Concepts of Print, Emergent
Reading, Accuracy, Comprehension, Oral Expression),
Reading Fluency (Rate, Expression)

Listening and Writing
– Listening Comprehension, Writing Development,
Writing Expression
Technically Adequate Diagnostic
Components*
K-1 K-2 1-1 1-2 2-1
2-2
Phonological Awareness
Yes
Yes
Phonics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Word Recognition - Sight Words
Reading Comprehension
Yes
Text Reading Fluency
*As determined by reliability of .8 and above
Yes
Yes
FIB and DIBELS
Area
FIB Measures
DIBELS Measures
Phonemic
Awareness
Phonemic Awareness (K) Rhyme
Recognition, Rhyme Generation, Syllable
Clapping, Initial Consonants, Final
Consonants, Blending, Segmenting
Initial Sound Fluency
Phoneme
Segmentation Fluency
Phonics
Phonics (K – 2) Alphabet Recognition,
Alphabet Writing, Spelling, Decoding
Letter Naming Fluency
Nonsense Word
Fluency
Reading Fluency
Reading and Oral Expression: (K – 2)
Sight Words (K – 2)
Text Reading Fluency (2)
Oral Reading Fluency
Reading
Comprehension
Reading and Oral Expression: (K – 2)
Reading Comprehension (2)
Early Reading Diagnostic
Assessment: 2nd Ed. (ERDA)






Grades K - 3
5 Skill Clusters: Phonological Awareness,
Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, Comprehension
Norm-referenced – Emerging or Below Basic;
Basic; Proficient
Teacher administration: 15 – 110 minutes
Timed and untimed sections
Materials: Administration manual, technical
manual, stimulus book, record form, stopwatch,
parent report forms
ERDA Clusters and Subtests

Phonological Awareness
– Phonological Composite: Rhyming, Rimes, Phonemes,
Syllables

Phonics
– Letter Recognition, Pseudoword Decoding

Fluency
– Word Reading, Target Words in Context, RAN – Automaticity
Composite, Passage Fluency Composite: Narrative Composite,
Informational Composite

Vocabulary
– Vocabulary Composite: Receptive and Expressive, Word
Opposites, Synonyms, Word Definitions, Multiple Meanings

Comprehension
– Story Retell, Reading Comprehension, Listening
Comprehension
ERDA and DIBELS
Area
ERDA Measures
DIBELS Measures
Phonological
Awareness
Phonemic Awareness Composite:
Rhyming, Phonemes, Rimes, Syllables
Initial Sound Fluency
Phoneme
Segmentation Fluency
Phonics
Phonics
Letter Recognition, Pseudo-word Decoding
Letter Naming Fluency
Nonsense Word
Fluency
Fluency
Word Reading, Target Words in Context
RAN – Automaticity Composite
Passage Fluency Composite: Narrative
Composite, Informational Composite
Oral Reading Fluency
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Composite: Receptive and
Expressive, Word Opposites, Synonyms, Word
Definitions, Multiple Meanings
Reading
Comprehension
Comprehension
Story Retell, Reading Comprehension,
Listening Comprehension
Group Reading Assessment and
Diagnostic Evaluation (GRADE)






Grades PK – Adult: 11 Levels, on grade and out-of
level testing
5 Components: Pre-Reading, Reading Readiness,
Vocabulary, Comprehension, Oral Language
Norm-referenced – Standard Scores and Percentiles
available; Growth scale values
Group or individual administration; two alternate
forms
Untimed – 45 – 90 minutes
Materials: Administration manual for each level,
teacher’s scoring and interpretive manuals, technical
manual, answer sheets, handscoring templates
Components and Subtests

Pre-Reading
– Picture Matching, Picture Differences, Verbal Concepts,
Picture Categories

Reading Readiness
– Sound Matching, Rhyming, Print Awareness, Letter
Recognition, Same & Different Words, PhonemeGrapheme Correspondence

Vocabulary
– Word Reading, Word Meaning, Vocabulary

Comprehension
– Sentence Comprehension, Passage Comprehension

Oral Language
– Listening Comprehension
GRADE and DIBELS
Area
GRADE Measures
DIBELS Measures
Phonological
Awareness
Sound Matching
Rhyming
Initial Sound Fluency
Phoneme Segmentation
Fluency
Letter Identification
Letter Recognition
Letter Naming Fluency
Phonics
Phoneme-Grapheme
Correspondence
Word Reading
Letter Naming Fluency
Nonsense Word Fluency
Fluency
Oral Reading Fluency
Vocabulary
Word Meaning
Vocabulary
Reading
Comprehension
Sentence Comprehension
Passage Comprehension
Oral Language
Listening Comprehension
The 4 Critical
Assessments
 Progress
Monitoring: “Growth Charts”
 Screening: “First Alert”
 Diagnostics: “In-depth View”
 Outcome Measures: “Reaching Our
Goals”
Outcome Measures
Vocabulary and Comprehension
 PPVT-III,
Form B
– receptive vocabulary
 Gates
MacGinitie Reading Tests
– reading vocabulary
 Stanford
-10
– reading comprehension
Peabody Picture Vocabulary
Test (PPVT-III)
Oral receptive language test
 Provide word and student selects the
appropriate picture from 4 options
 Norm-referenced
 Individually administered: 15 – 20 min.
 Outcome measure for vocabulary along
with GMRT for reading vocabulary

Internet Resources

Risk Level Charts – DIBELS and FORF
– http://www.fcrr.org/assessment/pdffiles/k3_risk_levels.pdf
– http://www.fcrr.org/assessment/PDFfiles/45_RISK_LEVELS.pdf
– http://www.fcrr.org/assessment/PDFfiles/Risk-Levels6-8-FORF-FCRR.pdf

University of Oregon – DIBELS
– http://dibels.uoregon.edu

Coaches Guide - FCRR
– http://www.fcrr.org/assessment/pdf/coaches/coaches
guide2005.pdf