Adolescent Literacy – Professional Development Module 3: Assessment Adolescent Literacy – Professional Development Unit 3, Session 3

Session 3 Questions & Objectives Session 3 Key Questions What is progress monitoring? How is progress monitoring done? How should the data be used? Session 3 Objectives Participants will learn what progress monitoring is and why it is essential to ensuring that struggling students and students with learning disabilities gain literacy proficiency. Participants will learn how to monitor students’ progress in reading fluency.

Activity Participants should share what they learned from any After The Session activities described at the end of Session 2.

On Teaching “We must have a detailed understanding of students reading and their lives as they enter our classrooms, we must come to know them well through the school year, and we must be able to provide summary accounts of what they achieve and accomplish. To this end, an assessment program must be an apt combination of formative and summative materials and procedures” (Afflerbach, 2008). Afflerbach, P. (2008). “Meaningful assessment of struggling adolescent readers.” pp. 249–264. In Lenski, S. and Lewis, J., eds. (2008). Reading success for struggling adolescent learners. New York, NY: Guilford Press. p. 254.

Progress Monitoring Definition Scientifically based practice of assessing students’ academic performance on a regular basis for three reasons: Determine if students are benefiting from curriculum and instruction Build more effective programs for students who do not benefit Estimate rates of student growth Johnson, E., Mellard, D. F., Fuchs, D., & McKnight, M. A. (2006). Responsiveness to Intervention (RtI): How to do it. Lawrence, KS: National Research Center on Learning Disabilities. http://nrcld.org/rti_manual/index.html, p. 2.2

PM and Screening Are Different Screening Purpose Identification of students at risk Progress Monitoring Purpose Track individual growth Johnson, E., Mellard, D. F., Fuchs, D., & McKnight, M. A. (2006). Responsiveness to Intervention (RtI): How to do it. Lawrence, KS: National Research Center on Learning Disabilities. http://nrcld.org/rti_manual/index.html, p. 2.3

PM in Tiered Instruction: Frequency and Purpose Assess at least 3 times per year. Is the student progressing in the generally effective curriculum? Tier 1 Assess 2 times weekly. Is the instructional intervention helping the student make effective progress? Tier 2 & 3 Johnson, E., Mellard, D. F., Fuchs, D., & McKnight, M. A. (2006). Responsiveness to Intervention (RtI): How to do it. Lawrence, KS: National Research Center on Learning Disabilities. http://nrcld.org/rti_manual/index.html, p. 2.4

Basic Steps to Progress Monitoring Obtain grade-level sets of reading passages. Establish baseline performance for students (screening may be used). Identify the proficiency standard. Set a growth goal. Identify a data recording system. Set a progress monitoring schedule. Provide instruction and record data. Determine if instruction is effective.

What is Effective Progress? Effective progress will be different for each student depending upon how large the gap is between current performance and grade/age-level expectation. Effective progress is being made when the student is demonstrating increased performance at a rate that will close the gap between current performance and proficiency standards.

Progress Monitoring Activity Use sample student scores to create a progress monitoring chart. Examine how data point to need for instructional changes. Facilitator and participants should follow the instructions in the Participant’s Resource Packet for this activity.

Data Use The assessment process should be efficient, accurate, and transparent. Reported in a form that assists teachers in making instructional decisions Informs students about their skills and needs “Ideally, test data can provide common information to both teacher and student that results in a shared plan of assistance and commitment to improvement” (Denti and Guerin, 2008). Denti, L., and Guerin, G., eds. (2008). Effective practice for adolescents with reading and literacy challenges. New York, NY: Routledge, p. 152.

Why All The Data? Teaching is both an art and a science. We must pay equal attention to both aspects in order to be effective educators. The scientific aspect of teaching requires that we measure how effectively our instruction is meeting our students’ needs, and draw conclusions about next steps to take.

A Review of the Scientific Method Return to construct a new hypothesis if results do not confirm your initial hypothesis. Ask a question Engage in research Construct a hypothesis Test hypothesis with an experiment Analyze the results and draw a conclusion

Progress Monitoring Screening: Is the student progressing in the general curriculum? Diagnostic Information: If not, what are the needs? Instruction: Choose and implement instruction likely to address the needs. CBM probes: Is the intervention helping the student make effective progress? Analyze data, draw conclusions, and decide next steps.

Changes in Instruction In the general curriculum, changes in instruction may be decided upon after a beginning of term general screening. At the Tier 2 and 3 intervention levels, changes in instruction should be considered if effective progress is not demonstrated after 5 data points.

Activity Complete the survey on pp. 2.18–2.19 of the reading, “Progress Monitoring.” Gather in groups by department, school, or grade level to discuss what is in place, and what the priorities for implementation are. In those same groups, work together to complete the needs assessment on p. 2.20 of the reading, “Progress Monitoring.”

Extension Activity Teams of teachers may work in groups to create a progress monitoring plan using Activity 2.1 of the “Progress Monitoring” reading (pp. 2.15–2.17). Johnson, E., Mellard, D. F., Fuchs, D., & McKnight, M. A. (2006). Responsiveness to Intervention (RtI): How to do it. Lawrence, KS: National Research Center on Learning Disabilities. http://nrcld.org/rti_manual/index.html