Objective 8 Vocabulary

Question 1

Validity

Answer 1

a quality of good tests that insures that the test measures what it is supposed to measure. Many intelligence tests lack validity because they measure the ability to read or cultural prior knowledge that not all students have vs. intelligence

Question 2

Test bias

Answer 2

a negative attribute of some tests that result in some students doing better or worse than others because of reasons other than the purpose of the test.
Ex. if a writing prompt is to write about what students did on a snow day it is biased in favor of students that live in the north.

Specific cultural or social situations familiar to only some students causes bias.

Question 3

Test Reliability

Answer 3

A quality of good tests that assures that the tests would produce almost the same results if given again (as long as no new learning or forgetting took place)

Different forms of the test given to students on two consecrative days should result in students scoring similarly on both days.

Question 4

Flexible Grouping

Answer 4

Grouping of children in a classroom that is not permanent and based on students’ needs or interests or because the teacher is trying to give kids the opportunity to work with all of their classmates
These contrast with permanent reading groups: high, average (on-grade level) or ‘low’ readers

Question 5

Text Leveling

Answer 5

a system of placing texts (books) in order of difficulty. Factors that can contribute to text difficulty include number of words, decidability or words, length of words or sentences, predictability, rhyming, difficulty of the vocabulary, prior knowledge needed, and whether there are illustrations

Question 6

Informal Reading Inventories

Answer 6

IRI: a type of reading test given one on one with students where they read aloud and answer comprehension questions. Help teachers place students in the right independent and instructional materials and to determine growth in literacy over time.

Question 7

Independent/Instructional/Frustration Levels of Readers

Answer 7

All readers can read texts at 3 levels:
1. independently (easy text) where 95-100% of the words are recognized automatically
2. instructional level where teachers provide support (just right text) 90-95% words read automatically
3. Frustration level (too hard) fewer than 90% of words read automatically and students need LOTS of support from teachers. students should not be asked to read frustration level text without lots of support or the teacher reads the text aloud

Question 8

Criterion Referenced Test

Answer 8

A test in which the student’s score is compared with a criterion or standard
Ex. MCAS and MTEL tests are criterion referenced because you must reach the criterion score to pass

Question 9

Norm Referenced Test

Answer 9

A test in which the student’s score is compared with the scores of other students who took the test. Norm Referenced test produce raw scores, percentile scores and grade equivalent scores

Question 10

Grade Equivalent Score

Answer 10

A score expressed as a grade and month
Ex. 2.5= second grade, fifth month
The first grade student who got this scores received the same number of items correct as the mean or average of all the students in the fifth month of second grade who took the first grade test

Question 11

Decode-ability

Answer 11

a quality of text. It is whether the words are decodable based on cvc, cvce, vr, and cvvc patterns. All or most of the words should be easy for readers to analyze and pronounce based on regular phonics patterns

Question 12

Predictability

Answer 12

A quality of text. Pertains to writing that is written in a repeated pattern so that readers can guess what comes next.
Ex. On Monday….On Tuesday……On Wednesday….etc.
Rhyming provides a predictable pattern as well

Question 13

Miscues

Answer 13

We used to call these reading errors or mistakes. We now know there is a lot of information in the discrepancies between the words in the text and the ‘errors’ readers make when reading aloud to teachers. Teachers note the miscues and analyze them to learn what strategies readers can control (semantic, syntactic, and visual information) and which ones need more instruction

Question 14

Miscue Analysis

Answer 14

An assessment process where teachers listen to children read orally one at a time while teachers note miscues on a printed copy of the text and then analyze the misuses to determine instructional steps. A retelling and follow-up comprehension questions are also involved to assess comprehension.

Question 15

Running Record

Answer 15

An assessment similar to a miscue analysis but teachers are able to conduct it on the spot using the students’ instructional level texts without having to make a script of the text. Teachers learn to follow along with miscues by noting them on blank paper and then analyzing them. A retelling followed by prompts assesses comprehension.

Question 16

Rubrics

Answer 16

Are schemes for evaluating work on a continuum
For example, a rubric for word choice in a story might be 1= tired overused words 2= some rich, unusual words, 3= fresh language with varied word choice.
Rubrics are most powerful when the students help to create them. This raises their meta-cognitive awareness of their learning

Question 17

Portfolios

Answer 17

Are collections of student work that show what they know and can do. They are most powerful when the students make the decisions about which work samples are included. These decisions raise their meta-cognitive awareness of their learning and what good work is.

Question 18

Code Based vs. Meaning Based Assessments

Answer 18

Code-based assessments often include pseudo-words such as zat, rit, pom in order to assess how children decode without using context clues or relying on previously known words

Meaning based assessments include authentic texts with real words

Question 19

Nonsense Word Fluency

Answer 19

A phonics screener that requires that students use phonics generalizations to decode nonsense words (zat, rit, pom) accurately and rapidly. The screeners do not allow readers to rely on memory as they have never seen these words in print

Question 20

Individual vs. Group based Assessments

Answer 20

Individual assessments are administered individually, one on one, one teacher one reader (running records) and group assessments are administered to the whole class (weekly spelling tests

Question 21

Pre/Post Assessment

Answer 21

Pre assessments are administered to students before they are taught a particular curriculum. Similar post assessments are administered after the curriculum has been taught. Comparisons of both scores reveal what has been learn by individuals

Question 22

Formative vs. Summative Assessments

Answer 22

Formative assessments are administered while students are in the process of learning. They include progress monitoring assessments and allow teacher to adjust their instruction based on results.

Summative assessments are administered at the end of the unit of study to evaluate what students do or do not know

Question 23

Screening Assessment

Answer 23

Are used to determine what students know and can control BEFORE teaching begins. Kindergarten children are often screened before the year begins. A decision to obtain or to explore the need for additional tier 2 or even tier 3 instructional support might be based on screening

Question 24

Tiered Instructional Support

Answer 24

Tier 1 is research based classroom instruction of high quality

Tier 2 is when students receive non-special education additional support, often with an interventionist teach or the reading specialist

Tier 3 is special education support (an IEP) with a licensed special ED teacher, provided after a battery of assessments and only when tier 1 and 2 teaching is deemed ineffective

Question 25

Response to Intervention

Answer 25

RTI is the federal law that insures that students who have not made adequate progress in tier 1 and tier 2 instructional interventions (good-assessment based teaching) should be assessed for the implementation of an IEP taught by a licensed special education teacher

Question 26

Diagnostic Assessment

Answer 26

Are used to DIAGNOSE students’ strengths and weaknesses. This information is used to match students with appropriate instruction or to match students with the correct tier of instruction

Question 27

Progress Monitoring and Targeted Grouping of Instruction

Answer 27

Formative assessments are used to monitor how students are doing while in the process of learning something. Teachers use them to adjust their instruction, to form groups or to regroup children to make sure the pace or modifications of instruction is effective.