1. Courtney Burchard Saint Leo University EDU 658

2. The Purpose of Assessment Assessments provide the data that drives instruction. According to Reutzel and Cooter (2011), effectiveinstruction begins with assessment. As assessment data are gathered, the teacher is able to plan instruction that responds to learners specific literacy learning needs. (p. 33). 3. Formative vs. Summative Assessment Formative assessment takes place as learning occurs. Formative assessment is ongoing assessment that isused to inform instruction. Summative assessment is administered after learning happens. Summative assessment measures student learning at the end of a unit or semester. Summative assessments can also be used formatively, to drive future instruction (Gunning, 2009). 4. Assessment Categories Assessments fall into the following four categories: Screening assessments Diagnostic assessments Progress Monitoring assessments Outcome Assessments 5. Screening Assessments Screening instruments are used to analyze student mastery of previous and current grade-level benchmarks (Reutzel & Cooter, 2011). Screening assessments are used to determine if a student is having difficulty or if further assessment is needed (American Federation of Teachers, 2004). These assessments are usually administered at the beginning of the school year or when a student enters the school (Gunning, 2010). Screening assessments may also take place at the middle and end of the year. An example of a screening assessment may include Discovery Education assessments, which are administered three times a year to measure student progress towards specific reading and writing standards. Other examples of screening assessments may include the use of a Running Record with miscue analysis, which will give insight into the students decoding abilities, fluency and comprehension skills (Gunning, 2009). 6. Diagnostic Assessments These assessments are used with at-risk students topinpoint specific areas of deficit or student need. Diagnostic assessments can be formal (standardized, norm-referenced) or informal. An example of a diagnostic assessment is the IRI (Informal Reading Inventory). This assessment provides information about the students reading level, language development, word-analysis and comprehension skills (Gunning, 2009). The QRI-5 is another example of a diagnostic assessment that can be used to determine reading level, decoding ability, and comprehension. 7. Progress Monitoring Assessments Progress monitoring assessments are used to determine if aspecific intervention is working or if progress is occurring. These assessments are administered periodically, usually every two weeks (American Federation of Teachers, 2004). Curriculum Based Measures (CBMs) are often used for progress monitoring. These assessments assess overall proficiency of a single skill, and are administered multiple times. Examples of CBMs include assessments of letternaming or sound fluency (DIBELS), as well as oral reading fluency (Gunning, 2009). 8. Outcome Assessments Outcome assessments are used to indicate whether the goals of a program have been met (Gunning, 2009). These assessments present a view of how a student compares to other students in the state, district, school, grade level or in a specific subgroup (Reutzel & Cooter, 2011). These are standardized, norm-referenced assessments. Outcome assessments are usually administered at the end of the year or after the completion of a program. The SAT-10 and FCAT assessments are examples of normreferenced outcome assessments that compare student performance across the same grade. Criterion-referenced assessments like the Discovery Education assessments are used to determine how students perform against specific reading and writing benchmarks and standards. 9. References American Federation of Teachers. (2004). Selecting assessments for your school. American educator, Fall 2004. Retrieved from: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/11338/ Cooter, R. and Reutzel, D. (2011). Strategies for reading assessment and instruction: Helping every child succeed (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. Gunning, T.G. (2010). Assessing and correcting reading and writing difficulties (4th ed.).Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.