The following is the communication those of us on the Reading Teacher Listserv have contributed to. I’ve made some notes on the samples I’ve given you, they are highlighted in red. I hope from this you can compare how you have used your listserv to how we’ve used this listserv.
Each topic always starts with a question or a concern. There is always something a teacher needs to know and asks others for their professional opinion. Here we see Kimberly ask the questions that follows several solutions to her question.
Email from Kimberly on 02/15/05
I am a first grade teacher. I am currently looking for valid assessments that teachers use to determine the reading level of their students. Fellow primary grade teachers, what is working in your classrooms to accurately determine your
students reading levels?
This question gets many responses from others on the very day that the question is asked. How many times do you have to bug a fellow teacher or principal about a problem or question you might have? Everyone is busy so it’s hard to get our questions answered. With the listserv you are dealing with people in different time zones, so usually you get a response with the day or even within the hour. The following are examples of responses given to Kimberly on the very day she asked the question.
Emails in response to Kimberly on 02/15/05
First Email
If you have the background to give IRI's (informal reading
inventories)they are the best measure. The Burns/Roe one is a good
test. When just giving a running record, you don't get comprehension.
With the IRI you get words in context as well as comprehension. The
test comes with explicit directions so it shouldn't be hard to read and
administer. The sixth edition was revised in 2002. It has several
different stories for levels preprimer to twelfth grade. The only thing
you might want to consider is that there are no picture clues.
Sometimes teachers don't like this but I think it gives a true measure
of what they understand. (they don't have pictures to help them figure
out the answers) Hope this information is helpful.
Anne Gorman
Reading Specialist
Edgemere Elementary
Second Email: Here we see that Christy is linking Kimberly to more information. Throughout the emails you will notice that several people have helpful websites to link others to information that can better assist them.
I second using IRI's. I enjoy using Stieglitz IRI. Here's a link to it at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0205334202/qid=1108505090/sr=2-3/ref=pd_ka_b_2_3/103-3313207-4097433
Christy
Third Email
Here are some more great informal reading assessments. These are similar to the Burns/Roe but are great resources to have to.
Flynt-Cooter Reading Inventory
Ekwall-Shanker Reading Inventory
DRA (Primary and 4-8)
The Flynt-Cooter and ESRI are very affordable and great professional resources. The DRA is something that could be provided by a school district for several teachers to have access to. Hope this helps.
Stefanie Coble
Fourth Email: Some emails are very short and to the point. Notice this one comes from Washington and the next email comes from Kentucky. Both are on complete different sides of the US. I think that’s the coolest!
We are using the DRA and is approved by the state of Washington. MK
Fifth Email
The state of Kentucky requires the use of the GRADE (http://www.agsnet.com/group.asp?nGroupInfoID=a24000) assessment for schools with Early Reading Incentive grants. It is given in a group setting, but I don't know much about it. DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) is free. All of the materials can be found at http://dibels.uoregon.edu/. Each component is administered in only one minute. I have not used it, though.
DRA (published by Pearson Learning http://www.pearsonlearning.com/) provide a lot of useful information, but it is time intensive (at least 15 minutes per student) and expensive.
Hope this helps
Sixth Email
The state of Kentucky requires the use of the GRADE (http://www.agsnet.com/group.asp?nGroupInfoID=a24000) assessment for schools with Early Reading Incentive grants. It is given in a group setting, but I don't know much about it. DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) is free. All of the materials can be found at http://dibels.uoregon.edu/. Each component is administered in only one minute. I have not used it, though.
So there are six response to one question in one day. Let’s go to day two. Notice some of these are in response to others not Kimberly.
Emails from February 16, 2005
First email:
Debbie,
I have used the QRI and I have some experience with the Ekwall/Shanker. I have
found both of them to be quite helpful as informal reading assessments. The one
difference I have found between the two is that the QRI has a section on
retelling the story and the Ekwall/Shanker does not. I like the retelling
portion because I think it gives me a clearer picture of what the child is
understanding and it does test their ability to retell the story in their own
words. However, I believe this section is difficult to score. The
Ekwall/Shanker seems easier to me to administer with all of my students in a
shorter period of time. I hope this helps.
Abby Brown
Second Email
Kimberly,
I have used Informal reading inventories such as the QRI and the Ekwall/Shanker
with my students to determine their reading level. I have used these
assessments in first and second grade and they seem to lead to accurate results.
Another resource I have used as an assessment tool is The Phonological Awareness
Literacy Screening (PALS). PALS is a screening tool used to for early literacy
intervention. It was develeloped through Virginia’s Early Intervention Reading
Initiative (EIRI). Like the IRIs, the PALS assessment includes word lists and
reading passages with comprehension questions. It also includes a spelling
portion, letter/sound recognition, an auditory discrimination test and more. On
the website there are many activites to use for instruction to make it easier
for your assessment to inform your instruction.
More information can be found at http://pals.virginia.edu/
I hope this helps.
Abby Brown
I mailed Kimberly on February 19, 2005. I thought it was neat that actually had some advice to give. It made me feel really good when she wrote me back wanting to know for. From this I learned that not all of the conversation has to be with everyone, but if you have a question for just one person you can email just that person. The following is a conversation be Kimberly and I.
Kimberly, I've noticed many have suggested IRI's for valid assessments. These are good assessments and they allow you to be very detailed or to just find the level they are reading at. Actually, today I will be giving IRI to first graders at a school system here in Oklahoma. The IRI I like is John's Basic Reading Inventory. You can buy the book at Amazon for about $40. This book not only gives the IRI, but also other valid test to use for the young readers! I highly recommend it. It is the book we are using currently in my Reading Specialist Graduate Studies.
Andrea
Hi Andrea,
Thank you for your suggestion. I really appreciate all the input that fellow
reading teachers have offered. When you say it gives "other valid tests for the
young readers," exactly what other assessments are available with the John's
Basic Reading Inventory?
"A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary."
Thomas Carruthers
HI Kimberly,
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you.
In John's book there is a section that is specifically for the younger readers called Early Literacy Assessments. It has assessments to test Alphabet Knowledge. Literacy Knowledge, Wordless Picture Reading, Caption Reading Auditory Discrimination, Writing, , Phoneme Segmentation, Basic Word Knowledge, and Phoneme Awareness. There is also another book we are using in my Reading Assessment Class called "Words Their Way" it deals with word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction. Hope this helps.
Andrea