International Reading Association Atlanta GA, May 2008 Dr. Ernest Balajthy, State University of New York at Geneseo (PowerPoint file is available at

TRADITIONAL Genre study Lament Thanksgiving Hymn Royal Wisdom Imprecatory Praise Ascent WALTER BRUEGGEMANN Orientation Disorientation New Orientation

Orientation Disorientation New Orientation --Mindstorms (Seymour Papert) (LOGO) --Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) --Myriad possible applications of technology; rapidly changing technology --Word processing --Multimedia --Research ??Collaborative technologies?? ??Assessment technologies?? ________________________?

What assessment technologies have the most promise to make significant changes in the classroom?

Detailed testing/tracking of student progress; Online access to student scores Stanford-10 Renaissance Place Realities of classroom life Non-use of technology: Assessments that that have no classroom application are wastes of time Possible Solutions: * Diagnostic/ individualized testing only for struggling readers How much diagnostic information do we need? New Orientation

Criterion-referenced report of Diagnostic component of Acuity (McGraw-Hill)

Renaissance Place tiers of learning assessment

Sample vocabulary test screen page from STAR Reading.

Sample comprehension test screen page from Scholastic Reading Inventory.

Unavailability of web-connected computers; negative view of normed assessment Non-use of technology Much greater availability of web- connected technology Education about the usefulness of normed testing; relationship to state testing Awareness of CAT time savings Does it pay to switch to web-based assessment? New Orientation Web-based assessment Computer Adaptive Tests (CAT): STAR SRI Other Computer- Administered Tests: BEAR Acuity

Emphasis on authentic response to reading; lack of commitment to wide reading Non-use of technology Balance of authentic & pedagogical responses to reading Education about the extensive nature of effective recreational reading programs Should my school use a recreational management testing system? New Orientation Recreational reading management systems Accelerated Reader Scholastics Reading Counts Bookadventure.org Commitment to wide reading

Nassim Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Dr. Ernest Balajthy Dr. Ernest Balajthy (pronounced buh- LAY-thee) is Professor of Education and Program Director of the faculty of reading and literacy at the State University of New York at Geneseo. Balajthys key research interests include: 1) Technology in reading and literacy. Balajthy is the author of almost 100 articles on technology. He edited the Issues in Technology column in the journal Reading and Writing Quarterly for almost ten years, and he presently is co- editor (with Rebecca Anderson of the University of Memphis) of the Technology in Literacy Education column in The Reading Teacher. He is the author of two of the earliest books on use of personal computers in school, Microcomputers in Reading and Language Arts (Prentice Hall, 1986) and Computers in Reading: Lessons from the Past and the Technologies of the Future (Prentice Hall, 1989). 2) Secondary reading, content area reading, comprehension and metacomprehension. 3) Clinical reading instruction and assessment. Balajthy is the author (with Sally Lipa) of the Guilford textbook, Struggling Readers: Assessment and Instruction in Grades K-6 (2003). His article on assessment and technology will appear in the journal The Reading Teacher in Ella Cline Shear School of Education State University of New York at Geneseo Geneseo NY

Alvermann, D.E. (2004). Seeing and then seeing again. Journal of Literacy Research, 36, Balajthy, E. (2002). Information technology and literacy assessment. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 18, Balajthy, E. (1989). Computers and reading: lessons from the past and the technologies of the future. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Balajthy, E. (2007). Technology and current reading/literacy assessment strategies. The Reading Teacher, 61, Bonhoeffer, D. (1974). Psalms: The prayer book of the Bible. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg. Retrieved September 7, 2007, from 5WEE_vAxV_WM#PPA56,M1 5WEE_vAxV_WM#PPA56,M1 Brueggemann, W. (2002). Spirituality of the Psalms. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress. Chall, J.S Stages of reading development. New York: McGraw-Hill. Gunkel, H. (1998). Introduction to Psalms: The genres of the religious lyric of Israel (J.D. Nogalski, Trans.). Macon, GA: Mercer University Press (Original work published 1926) National Reading Panel. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Reports of the subgroups. Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Clearinghouse. National Science Board. (2006). Science and engineering indicators Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. Retrieved September 12, 2007, from Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas (2nd ed.). New York: Basic Books. Taleb, N.N. (2005). The black swan: The impact of the highly improbable. New York: Random House.