Question #2: Focus on Classroom-Based Assessment

New Student Assessments

Hayley is a six-year-old female who arrived at my first grade classroom
in December and the only administration information I received is her
birthday, that she has attended school in California, and she is an English
Language Lerner. Our school year begins in August and, at that time, each
student completes an initial assessment; but, given Hayleys late arrival and
in the school year and lack of information regarding her academic level, I
need to assess her. Over the course of her first week, I will need Hayley to
complete several assessments to help me determine her strengths and
needs. First, I would assess her with Words Their Way Spelling Inventory to
indicate which spelling group Hayley would be placed in. Then, I would
assess her with DIBELS which stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early
Literacy Skills. The DIBELS assessments would consist of Phoneme
Segmentation Fluency, Nonsense Word Fluency, Oral Reading Fluency, and
Retell Fluency. These assessments would allow me to identify if she is deficit,
emerging, or established; in other words, if she is at risk, has some risk, or
low risk. I would also have her tested in STAR Renaissance Learning
assessments in Early Literacy and Reading. STAR stands for Standardized
Test for the Assessment of Reading and will indicate Hayley's Developmental
Reading Assessment Level (DRA), Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD),
Scaled Score (SS), Percentile Rank (PR), Lexile Measure, Grade Equivalent
(GE), Instructional Reading Level (IRL), and Estimated Oral Reading Fluency

(Est. ORF). Lastly, I would assess her writing through our first grade level
rubric. By evaluating her writing abilities with this rubric, I can then
determine what lessons and conferencing will help improve her writing skills.

Words Their Way Primary Spelling Inventory

Words Their Way Primary Spelling Inventory (PSI) assesses
kindergarten through third grade abilities in spelling as well as reading and
writing using orthographic knowledge. To begin the assessment, a student is
given a piece of paper to transcribe the list of 26 spelling words. Beginning
with kindergarten level and increasing in difficulty through third-grade level,
this list of words is dictated by the teacher. Each word is announced clearly
and followed by a sentence including that word. Giving the word context in
the sentence aids students in understanding the word being spoken them.
This test can be administered to an individual, to a small group or to an
entire class. A students knowledge of initial consonants, final consonants,
short vowels, blends, digraphs, long vowel patterns, other vowel patterns,
and inflected endings are revealed through the results of this test. Results
are calculated using a feature guide sheet consisting of columns to record
mastery of each spelling stage including letter-name alphabetic, within word
pattern, syllables and affixes, and derivational relations at an early, middle,
or late stage. The administrator records the number of points from these
feature columns along with the number of correctly spelled words and the
total. These scores allow the teacher to place students in the appropriate

spelling group and to differentiate instruction for these groups in order to

address the both the strengths and needs of each level. Low scores in a
specific area illustrate a need for extra attention regarding that stage of
spelling development and possibly a different or more tailored teaching
approach for those students. Some students may have a better
understanding og the material, exhibited by only a few errors on the
assessment, and a simple review lesson may be sufficient to increase their
mastery. Finally, there are students who will have a perfect, or near-perfect,
score indicating a proficiency in that area and a necessity for next level
instruction.
The next part to this assessment is completion of the Qualitative
Spelling Checklist, which analyzes the students writing and determines the
appropriate stage of spelling development: early, middle, or late. This
analysis correlates with the scoring sheet from the Spelling Inventory
Assessment. The areas assessed are emergent stage, letter namealphabetic, within word pattern, syllables and affixes, and derivational
relations. After assessing Hayley with the Primary Spelling Inventory test, I
could then determine her appropriate spelling group and further develop an
instruction plan based on her spelling strengths and needs. Hayleys
placement and specific areas of need will also be compared to the rest of the
class to determine if individual, small group, or whole class instruction will be
most beneficial.
Research on Words Their Way Spelling Inventory

For several decades, researchers and educators have been writing

about the linguistic

nature of spelling (Apel & Masterson, 2001;

Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, & Johnston,

2004; Ehri, 1998; Henderson, 1990;

Masterson & Crede, 1999; Masterson & Apel, 2000;

Moats, 2009; Treiman,

Cassar, & Zukowski, 1994). Contrary to the view of spelling as a rote

memorization skill, spelling requires active consideration of the sounds,
patterns, and

meaning of written language (Masterson & Apel, 2000;

Moats, 2000). For example,

spellers can call upon their phonemic

awareness skills (i.e., explicit knowledge of the speech sounds, or phonemes,

of language) to determine the number and types of sounds

heard in a

word (Nation & Hulme, 1997). Spellers then can apply their orthographic
awareness skills to represent those sounds in print. Orthographic
awareness includes

overt knowledge of the rules and patterns that

govern what letter or letters are used to represent speech sounds in print
(Masterson & Kenn, 2016).
Spelling correlates to reading and writing. Darrel Morris, who wrote Morris
Informal Reading Inventory, Preprimer through Grade 8, states that reading,
writing, and spelling correlate, but are different processes. One may be able
to read a written word in a text, but might not be able to spell that same
word (Morris, 2015). A spelling inventory does provide a student's underlying
orthographic knowledge (Morris, 2015). Perfetti stated that, "There is a single
(mental) representation that serves both reading and spelling. It does so
throughout the course of development." Students can use many areas such

as phonology, orthography, morphemes, meaning of words, and mental

images of words to help them spell accurately (Masterson & Kenn, 2016).
Research has also shown that word studies are effective because words are
grouped into categories and can have similarities and differences (Abouzeid,
Bloodgood, & Invernizzi, 1997). This allows students to categorize words
according to meaning, use of patterns, spelling to represent a word's
meaning and grammatical function (Abouzeid, Bloodgood, & Invernizzi,
1997).
The content of word study at any particular grade is based on research
in developmental

spelling (Henderson, 1990; Templeton & Bear, 1992)

that shows that children acquire

specific features of words in a

hierarchical order-from basic letter-to-sound

correspondences, to patterns

associated with long and short vowel sounds, to structures within words
associated with syllables and affixation, and finally, to Greek and Latin roots
and stems that appear in derivational families (Abouzeid, Bloodgood, &
Invernizzi, 1997).
Words Their Way is a widely known and widely used spelling curriculum
in the United States. My current school uses the Spelling Inventory
Assessment by Words Their Way to assess students' spelling abilities at each
grade level. Words Their Way offers primary, elementary, and upper level
spelling inventories and is a beneficial and effective tool for assessing a
student's spelling ability and developing and teaching spelling curriculum.
One of the main strengths of this assessment is that it targets specific levels

of specific spelling abilities to give a detailed understanding of the students

skills. Some of the downfalls of this assessment include the time with which
it takes to grade this assessment and the difficulty that may occur when
administering the test to the whole class given the various abilities of the
students. These variations in skill levels can lead to increased stress levels in
those with more remedial skills and boredom for those with more advanced
skills; however, this is a temporary downfall and the results of this
assessment actually helps to alleviate this problem in classroom instruction.
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)
DIBELS is a program that allows teachers to do benchmark
assessments on literacy aspects by providing data and progress monitoring
for each student. At the beginning of the school year, a first-grade student is
assessed in Letter Naming Fluency (LNF), Phoneme Segmentation Fluency
(PSF), and Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF-CLS) and is classified into one of
three categories: At Risk/Deficit, Some Risk/Emerging, and Low
Risk/Established. In both the middle and end of the school year, the student
is assessed in Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF), Nonsense Word Fluency
(NWF-CLS), Oral Reading Fluency (ORF), and Retell Fluency (RTF) and again
classified into the same three risk categories. These scores provide valuable
student information and can help a teacher provide resources and
interventions for the student. At-risk students are tested every two weeks to
check for improvements or the need for further intervention.

Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) is assessed by a student reciting the list

of letters within the one-minute time limit. Scoring at the at-risk level
indicates the need for interventions in regards to letters and sounds. At the
end of first grade, a child should score 37 or above.
Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF) measures a students
phonological awareness by giving the student one minute to segment threeand four-phoneme words. The test administrator pronounces a word and the
student has to identify each sound in the word. This demonstrates the
students understanding that letters represent sounds or phonemes. At-risk
students will require interventions in letter sounds and blending sounds
together to make words; and, at the end of first grade, a student should
score 35 or above.
Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) uses made-up words to assess a
students ability to identify letters and the common sounds they make and
blend them together. Students have one minute to pronounce the sounds
and blend the nonsense words on the list. The purpose of this assessment is
to determine a students skill in reading unfamiliar words. High scores
indicate an ability to phonologically recode the word while low scores
indicate isolated pronunciation of each letter sound and a need for
intervention on letter sounds and blending. At the end of first grade, a child
should score 50 or above.
Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) assesses a students ability to read as
much of a passage as possible within the one-minute time limit. After they

read the passage, students are asked to retell what they remember from the
passage. Passages change after each test so familiarity and memorization
cannot be factors. This assessment is specifically designed to identify at-risk
students and, through additional instructional support or intervention, they
are monitored to meet the appropriate grade-level goal by the end of the
school year. At the end of first grade, a student should read 69 words per a
minute. The retell portion of the assessment allows a teacher to gage the
students comprehension of the reading material and, if necessary, add
interventions at the students level both in guided reading groups and
individually. First graders work on comprehension skills as a whole class per
the curriculum, but this assessment specifically measures whether or not a
child reads fluently and with automaticity as well as comprehension and
retention of what was just read.
Research on Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills
(DIBELS)
In DIBELS Draws Doers & Doubters, 45 states have approved DIBELS
for usage in their schools according to the U.S. Government Accountability
Office (Dessoff, 2016). DIBELS was created as a result of the No Child Left
Behind law (Dessoff, 2016). Reading First, which schools receive funding for,
must also have a reading assessment; most schools choose to use DIBELS to
satisfy this requirement (Dessoff, 2016). DIBELS was created as a monitoring
tool to help teachers track the progress of their students and create

interventions or instruction based on the needs defined by these test results

(Dessoff, 2016).
In Interpreting Reading Assessment Data: Moving From Parts to Whole
in a Testing Era, it is stated that 15,000 schools in the U.S. use DIBELS: "To
accomplish such a goal, teachers have to return to the purpose of reading
and diagnostic assessment, to build meaning from text, and that
assessments ideally indicate whether there is something that disrupts that
process. In looking at DIBELS data, teachers and administrators should use a
systematic process," (Steven, Amendum, Kristin Conradi, & Melissa
Pendleton, 2015). Overall, they suggested that DIBELS can be a valuable
resource; but, it is vital for teachers and administers to analyze data
systematically and they need to make sure they are administering the
assessments correctly to provide accurate data (Steven Amendum, Kristin
Conradi, & Melissa Pendleton, 2015).
Theresa Deeney stated, "One-minute fluency measures do reliably
identify students who are at risk for reading difficulty," and that DIBELS tests
for both accuracy and speed but falsely measures fluency (Deeney, 2010). It
is a reliable curriculum-based measure that indicates how students are
performing within grade-level criteria as long as it is used correctly, which is
not always the case (Deeney, 2010). Deeney further states, "Through
understanding that readers struggle and why they struggle, we can design
appropriate instruction to support students' developing fluency," (Deeney,
2010). I agree that DIBELS does help identify struggling readers and that

noticing the mistakes and errors students are making can help establish the
intervention needed for that student.
A comparable alternative to DIBELS is Darrell Morris Informal Reading
Inventory; the assessments that are in his book are almost identical to the
DIBELS assessments. In his book, Morris asserts that schools have been
using reading inventories informally for over 60 years including both word
lists and reading passages that assist in diagnosing reading abilities (Morris,
2015). And, in addition to explaining assessment administration and data collection and analysis,
he also delves into the history of such assessments (Morris, 2015). Beginning in 1932, Monroe
introduced research regarding isolated word recognition and decoding which was later expanded
upon by Durrell in 1937 (Morris, 2015). It wasnt until 1946 that passages were included in the
assessments as introduced by Betts; and, later, his student, Russell Stauffer, provided criteria for
interpreting the timed performances for word recognition (Morris, 2015). These types of
assessments have proven to be integral in discerning a students reading ability and identifying
specific strengths and areas of need (Morris, 2015). Yet, despite the success and importance of
DIBELS, administration of such assessments can be problematic. It is paramount that the test is
administered correctly to provide accurate data; but, this is a cumbersome task as it can only be
administered individually and assessment needs to be done several times a school year to
monitor development.
Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading (STAR)
STAR is a standardized test, created by Renaissance Learning, Inc., that
assesses both reading and math. Results of the reading portion of the STAR
test aids teachers with determining a student's reading level. STAR Early

Literacy allows teachers to identify pre K-3rd grade emerging readers'

command of key literacy and numeracy domains as categorized into three
areas: Reading: Foundational Skills, Language, and Numbers and Operations,
and focuses on the following skills within those domains: print concept,
phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, fluency, vocabulary
acquisition and use, counting and cardinality, operations and algebraic
thinking, and measurement and data (Renaissance, 2016). STAR Reading
assesses a student in the areas of Foundational Skills, Reading Informational
Text, Reading Literature, and Language focusing on the following eleven skill
sets: phonics and word recognition, fluency, key ideas and details (reading),
craft and structure (reading), integration of knowledge and ideas (reading),
range of reading and level (reading), key ideas and details (informational
text), craft and structure (informational text), integration of knowledge and
ideas (informational text), range of reading and level of text complexity, and
vocabulary acquisition and use (Renaissance, 2016). Both of these STAR
assessments are beneficial for a teacher as they provide data screening,
diagnostic information, progress monitoring, instructional planning, growth
measure, proficiency forecasting, and standards benchmarking (Renaissance,
2016).
One of the allures of this test is the flexibility in administering it. STAR
tests can be given to either the whole class, small groups, or individual
students and students work at their own pace. Given that this test is taken
three times a year, once each in the beginning, middle, and end of the

school year, this is an important factor. My current school has a class set of
iPads which I choose to reserve for a whole-class administration of this test;
however, we also have two desktop computers in my classroom that allow
me to offer the test to individual students, particularly those in situations
such as Hayley, as needed. Since students complete the STAR test at their
own pace, the duration of the test can vary; but, twenty minutes is an
appropriate expectation to complete the assessment. Some students will
have a longer test if they progress into higher grade levels within the test.
STAR Early Literacy is an audio assessment in which students listen to the
information and select the correct answer on the screen. STAR Reading
requires the students to read to themselves and then select the correct
answer. Each answer determines the next question; correct answers
generate progressively harder questions while incorrect answers generate
questions at a lower level, so the test is individualized based on each
students ability. After the test is completed, the teacher logs in to the STAR
website to obtain the results and analysis. Teachers are provided with the
students reading level as well as benchmark level, scaled score, lexile,
percentile rank, grade equivalent, instructional reading level, estimated oral
reading fluency, zone of proximal development, a score in each of the
domains listed above and mastery of each common core standard. The
website also offers teachers a space for supporting resources including data
charts, parent letters, instructional guidelines to help set up intervention. As
an educator, I find it both convenient and beneficial to have access to this

level of analysis and organization for each students assessment; it affords

me the opportunity to focus on instructional plans rather than data collection
and analysis and creating a personal organizational system for all of this
information. I appreciate the ability to focus on the students, confidently
place them in their appropriate reading groups, develop interventions as
needed, and assure parents with tangible evidence that we are creating the
best instructional plan possible. Once Hayley completes the assessment, I
will be able to assign her a reading group, evaluate her strengths and areas
of need, begin interventions if necessary, and concisely communicate this
strategy to her parents. Sharing a students reading level with her parents
assists everyone with appropriate book selection for both instructional and
recreational reading. STAR also promotes reading through its Accelerated
Reader program in which students select a book at their level, read it and
then take a comprehension test. The points awarded through this program
can be used in a rewards system to entice the students to read more. My
school offers class challenges and offers rewards for students accumulating a
specific number of points. In my class, I also allow students to receive a prize
from the treasure box for every 5 points they earn. And, while the students
are enticed through earning points, I use the program to monitor their
reading comprehension through the tests they take after each book.
Research on Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading
(STAR)

Since its development in 1984 by Judi Paul, STAR has become a popular
choice in schools across the United States. Accelerated Reader was the first
STAR development followed by STAR Reading in 1996, STAR Math in 1998
and STAR Early Literacy in 2000 (Renaissance, 2016). At present, STAR has
been adopted by more than 58,000 schools (PR Newswire, 2001). The article,
Renaissance Learning TIME For Kids Team Up to Encourage Nonfiction Reading in
Classrooms, promotes STAR tests because they "give students and teachers continuous
constructive feedback that helps motivate students, dramatically accelerate learning, improve test
scores, and helps students master all standards, while reducing teacher paperwork," (PR
Newswire, 2001). Though STAR Reading, Math, and Early Literacy are among Renaissance
Learning, Inc.s top sellers, their most popular software product is Accelerated Reader (PR
Newswire, 2001). Renaissance Learning Inc., who designs programs for K-12 schools around the
world, was nationally recognized for excellence in 2009 (Renaissance, 2016).
They are also highly rated by the National Center on Response to
Intervention, an organization funded by the U.S. Department of Education,
who asserts that, "STAR assessments are valid, reliable, and evidence based
for effective use for screening and progress monitoring within an RTI
framework," (Renaissance, 2016). Renaissance Learning Inc. is also named
as a top 100 most trustworthy company (Renaissance, 2016).
In 2015, Renaissance Learning Inc. announced STAR Reading and Math
programs as solid indicators of the Smarter Balanced Assessment
Consortium (SBAC) summative exam (Renaissance, 2015). A study of over
50,000 students in four states during the 2014-2015 school year shows that

students performance on STAR tests helps predict their performance on the

summative Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) (Renaissance,
2015). The correlations by grade range are between 0.81 and 0.86, higher
than the standard of 0.7 that suggests a strong relationship (Renaissance,
2015). Jack Lynch, CEO of Renaissance Learning Inc. explains that, "Today it
is critical that classroom assessments reduce the student testing burden
overall and give back instructional hours to teachers. Our findings prove that
Renaissance STAR assessments do deliver on the promise to estimate
student success on end-of-year exams and help educators demonstrate
student growth, even as new standards and summative exams are
implemented," (Renaissance, 2015). Though there are many benefits of
using STAR, as previously mentioned, there are some downfalls to this
program. These tests require a computer or iPad to administer which may
prove difficult for schools and classrooms that do not have funding to
purchase such items. And, while STAR does provide a large amount of data
with each students results, I have noticed that data regarding Common Core
Standards, is not always accurate. Finally, STAR testing is centered around a
reading test and students must read the test to themselves without any help
in order to complete the assessment even though reading is not required for
some of the standards being testing. This then results in inaccurate scores
where the student may have trouble reading but not with the specific
standard.
Writing

Lastly, I would need to assess Hayley's writing skills. Our school does
not have a specific assessment for writing. In first grade, a student needs to
write a narrative, an informative/explanatory passage, and an opinion piece.
Since Hayley missed the narrative lessons throughout the first quarter, I will
need to assess her in this area. Using the same topic the rest of the class
had, I will have her write a narrative and will score it using the rubric chosen
by our first grade team. After reviewing her writing and scores, I will either
need to provide instructional intervention on narrative writing or provide
minor instruction to help her needs. Some of the writing elements I will look
for in her narrative are a topic sentence, middle, and ending to her story. I
will also identify if she stays on topic and uses appropriate grammar,
spelling, and conventions. All of this this will help me understand her level of
writing and areas of concern. Even though writing is a significant and
necessary skill throughout a persons life, not much research has been done
and not many assessments are available specifically in regards to writing.
Students need to learn the process of writing: prewriting, drafting, revising,
proofreading, and publishing, to help them express their thoughts, as well as
develop skills such as organization of ideas, use of voice, word choice,
sentence fluency, and conventions. The assessment rubric that we use
scores: Structure - overall, lead, transitions, ending, organization,
Development- elaboration and craft, and Language Conventions - spelling
and punctuation. The rubric helps me understand what skills a student has
mastered and in which areas more assistance is needed. I also use this

information when I conduct writers workshops to help differentiate all the

needs of my students.
Conclusion
It is important to conduct literacy assessments with our students
because they provide information regarding ability and help determine
instructional lessons for each level present in the class. Since No Child Left
Behind, schools are required to use literacy assessments and implement RTI
programs (Kuhn, Schwanenflugel, & Meisinger, 2016). According to the
National Reading Panel, literacy development is focused on five areas:
phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension
(Kuhn, Schwanenflugel, & Meisinger, 2016). Literacy assessments include
reading, writing, and spelling and research shows that these assessments
are an essential part of a students education and success. Classrooms are
comprised of a variety of abilities, most at grade level but also some below
and some above. It is imperative to understand each students level to
create a less stressful yet challenging instructional plan. Students in need of
extra assistance either at a remedial or advanced level depend on these
assessments to illustrate needs in a quantitative manner.
As a teacher for the past three years, I have had multiple instances in
which students join my classroom after the start of the school year. Every
time a student has joined my class, I have had to assess her with all the
assessments mentioned in order to determine this specific students needs.
The Words Their Way Spelling Inventory assessment allows me to place that

student into the correct spelling group that will enable her success. The
DIBELS and STAR tests allow me to understand my students' reading levels
as well as their mastery of other Common Core Standards. Lastly, writing
tests allow me to see what writing skills have already been mastered and
what skills should be addressed in writers workshop. Assessments are
beneficial and provide educators with valuable data to help meet the needs
of all our students. No matter what time of year they are completed,
assessments provide concrete data regarding a students placement needs
which creates a less stressful instructional environment.

References
Abouzeid, Mary P., Bloodgood, Janet W., & Invernizzi, Marcia A. "Integrated
Word Study:

Spelling, Grammar, and Meaning in the Language Arts

Classroom. Language Arts 74.3

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Amendum, S. J., Conradi, K., & Pendleton, M. J. (2015). Interpreting Reading

Assessment Data:

Moving From Parts to Whole in a Testing Era.

Intervention in School and Clinic, 51(5),

284-292.

doi:10.1177/1053451215606686

Deeney, T. A. (2010). One-Minute Fluency Measures: Mixed Messages in

Assessment and Instruction. The Reading Teacher, 63(6), 440-450.
doi:10.1598/rt.63.6.1

Dessoff, Alan. "DIBELS draws doers & doubters: Dynamic Indicators of Basic
Early Literacy

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2007: 38+. Academic OneFile. Web. 14 June

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"Aligning theory and

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prosody, and definitions of fluency."

Reading Research Quarterly 45.2

(2010): 230+. Academic OneFile. Web. 14 June 2016.

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