RDG 567 & RDG 568 (East Lyme Cohort) Session 3

HomeSchoolStudent What Can Be Learned From Each?

Norm-Referenced Reading Tests The single-skill diagnostic instruments provide the most in-depth assessment information. Special educators, diagnosticians, psychologists, reading specialists, and other professionals often use single-skill diagnostic tests when they: need detailed information to identify specific reading problems to develop instructional objectives, and to create intervention activities.

Norm Referenced Reading Tests Norm-referenced reading tests are useful in identifying specific reading problems, developing instructional objectives, creating intervention activities, measuring progress, and making staffing and placement decisions. Available norm-referenced instruments include wide-range screening tests as well as comprehensive diagnostic tools. The screening tests provide an overview of reading performance.

Relationship between Vocabulary Score (PPVT) measures in Kindergarten and later reading comprehension End of Grade One End of Grade Four End of Grade Seven The relationship of vocabulary to reading comprehension gets stronger as reading material becomes more complex and the vocabulary becomes becomes more extensive (Snow, 2002)

Gray Oral Reading Tests, Fourth Edition Measures oral reading skills of students from ages 6 through 18 using two parallel forms Available scores include a fluency score derived from the readers performance rate and an oral reading comprehension score Designed to identify students who are significantly behind in reading proficiency and who may benefit from interventions, the GORT4 also helps to pinpoint reading strengths and weaknesses and to document student progress in reading.

Norm Referenced Reading Tests Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests, Rev. A diagnostic tool for assessing the reading skills of students from kindergarten trough college and into adulthood Designed the tests for educational diagnosticians, reading specialists, and special education teachers. Form H contains 4 reading achievement subtests Form G includes the 4 reading achievement subtests & 3 readiness subtest

Test of Word Reading Efficiency Individually administered measure of word reading accuracy and fluency for students from ages 6 through 24 Measures the ability to accurately recognize familiar words as whole units or “sight words” and the ability to “sound out” words quickly

Typical Reading Difficulties Comprehension – difficulty retelling or retaining information, difficulty understanding what is being read Vocabulary – difficulty understanding the meaning of words, especially in non-fiction

Typical Reading Difficulties Fluency – reading is halting without accuracy, speed, or prosody Phonics – difficulty with letter/sound correspondences, sight words, blending sounds/letters, etc. Phonemic Awareness – difficulty manipulating the individual sounds of language orally (rhyming, deleting sounds, segmenting, etc.)

Typical Reading Difficulties Study Strategies – not having repair or fix- up strategies for comprehension and/or decoding; how to retain information Difficulty reading non-fiction materials more than fiction; understanding text structures in narrative or expository

Typical Writing Difficulties Content – finding a topic, producing clear and focused writing, including relevant details and appropriate examples Organization – having good leads, connections between ideas, logical order, and/or a satisfying ending Style and Voice – limited vocabulary, needs precise word choices, author’s voice is missing Conventions – spelling, usage, capitalization, punctuation issues

DIBELS Modules Two and Three