Classroom Assessment Tools

for Elementary Students

 Education

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Assessments inform teachers and parents about their children's progress in school.
Typically, tests yield data that educators must have as a gauge of their students'
progress. They are necessary instruments used in most elementary schools.
Assessments are classified according to their specific purpose. Many testing tools are
available to help teachers design classroom instruction and enable their students to
increase academic achievement.

Formative
Formative assessments are given on a continuing basis throughout the school year.
These are most helpful to teachers when making instructional decisions. For example, a
review of homework over the course of a week reveals that a majority of the class is
having difficulty understanding a concept. The teacher then decides if the unit needs to
be re-taught. In addition to homework, teacher observations, oral or written reports and
quizzes are formative assessment tools.

Summative
Summative assessments inform a teacher about a child's overall knowledge in specific
subjects. In elementary school, students take tests that measure their ability to master
skills and objectives designated for their grade level. Summative assessment tools are
nine weeks tests, end-of-course tests, in-depth projects and standardized tests. They
give teachers data that helps them determine a student's academic weaknesses and
decide if a child is ready to progress to the next grade.

Diagnostic
 Diagnostic tests indicate how much a student already knows about specific skills,
particularly in reading and math. For example, the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of
Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessments determine a child's proficiency in letter
naming, initial sound production and oral reading rate. A student's score tells teachers if
they are on, below or above grade level. Usually, diagnostic tests are given at the
beginning of the year as a screening tool, but they may be administered again during the
year as a progress-monitoring instrument.

Informal Assessment Tools

Teachers use informal assessment methods frequently in the elementary classroom.
They might be used for formative, summative or diagnostic purposes, but they are not
standardized or scored according to a predetermined scale. Informal assessments can be
as simple as a checklist of skills or a small-group activity. The teacher usually designs
or leads informal assessments, which, when used with formal measures, give educators
and parents an overall picture of a child's achievement.

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The Pros & Cons of Report

Cards & Letter Grades
ByBill Reynolds

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Issued up to four times throughout the school year, “letter grade” report cards detail
students’ general academic performance. As many public schools are transitioning to
standards-based grading systems, which rate a student’s proficiency in individual
standards-based skills, traditional letter grades may one day become a thing of the past.
While it can be difficult to determine if standards-based grading is ultimately superior,
it can be useful to review the pros and cons of traditional letter grades.

Easy Assessment
Traditional report cards provide students an easy-to-understand method of monitoring
their own academic progress. On that same token, parents can reap the benefits of
simple letter grades. Without having to worry about too much academic detail, parents
can take a quick glance at a report card and get a fairly accurate idea about how their
child is doing in class. Letter grades make it easy for parents to identify the general
quality of their children’s classroom efforts.

Track Record
Public schools have been using report cards and letter grades to record student
achievement for many years. New scoring systems like standards-based grading have
not yet proven their long-term effectiveness. Advocates of letter grades may argue that
students have received letter grades -- without issue -- for a long time; "If it ain't broke,
why fix it?" Many parents and guardians are familiar with the letter-grade system, and
they may find alternate systems confusing.

Student Motivation
Because each letter grade generalizes a certain percentile range, students may strive
simply to attain the lowest possible percentile associated with their target grade. For
instance, students can earn themselves a B by achieving a percentile as low as 80 or as
high as 89. With this being the case, students hoping to earn a B in any given class may
lose some motivation once they feel their grade percentile has reached the low 80s.
Students may be happy to “just get by.”

Accuracy Issues
Letter grades often assess more than just academic performance. Factors such as
attendance, class participation and late assignments can have a sizable impact on a
student’s final letter grade. Students who have high scores in these factors -- but
struggle with class lessons -- may end up receiving the similar grades as their higher-
performing classmates who struggle with attendance and class participation. As a result,
traditional letter grades don’t always portray an accurate reading of a student’s purely
academic abilities.
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Different Assessment Methods

to Test Students
ByJeannine Lowe

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Assessment methods aid teachers in evaluating student learning outcomes. Desired

student learning outcomes include mastery of content knowledge, performance skills
and product developments. Contingent on the targeted outcome, assessments can either
promote learning or check accountability for learning. There are a number of effective
methods; while each assessment method validates learning, choosing whether to
implement one method over another is dependent on the teacher and purpose of the
assessment.

Selected Response
Selected response assessment occurs before, during and after instruction. Teachers
implement selected response to assess students’ prior knowledge before a lesson, to
check understanding during a lesson and to test students’ content mastery at the end of
a lesson. This assessment contains lower-level questions to which there is a right or
wrong answer, and these questions are formatted as multiple choice, true/false,
matching, short answer and fill-in-the-blank. Students either generate brief answers or
select the correct response from a provided list. Selected response is an accountability
assessment and is the quickest and easiest type of test to administer and grade, because
there is always a right or wrong answer.

Extended Written Response

Extended written response assessment requires students to activate higher-level
thinking skills to demonstrate their examination and interpretation of content
knowledge, and it typically occurs at the end of teacher directed instruction or at the
close of a lesson. Students essentially construct and compose a paragraph to answer a
question, such as, “compare and contrast two software programs.” Extended written
responses are accountability assessments and take more time to grade than selected
response assessments. Teachers usually award points for pieces of information that are
present in the essay or will use a rubric, a tool which sets the standards to evaluate the
learning outcome, to calculate grades.

Performance Assessment
Performance assessment occurs at the end of a lesson. Teachers observe the students’
performance or product and assign a grade based on its quality. For example, playing a
musical instrument or creating a brochure are examples of performance and product
assessments. Performance assessments promote learning because they are hands-on
activities encouraging critical thinking and creativity to demonstrate mastery of content.
A scoring guide or a rubric is used to evaluate students’ performance or product quality.

Personal Communication
Personal communication assessments consist of interacting with students to gather
information about their learning. Different ways teachers interact with students include
making comments in student journals, asking questions during instruction, interviewing
students or administering oral examinations. These communications can be evaluated
using scoring guides and rubrics. Because some students have learning disabilities,
personal communication assessments can provide students an alternative way to
demonstrate mastery. According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, verbal
responses are possible accommodations for students with disabilities.

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Assessment in Lesson Plans
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Quizzes and tests have their place, but students need diverse assessments to evaluate
their skills and measure how well they understand academic concepts. Formative
assessments also guide teachers as they make decisions about future lessons. They help
teachers determine if students are truly grasping the concepts under the current learning
conditions.

Visual Cues
Teachers can incorporate visual organizers, often called graphic organizers, into their
lesson plans to check students' comprehension of academic content. Lists, charts and
graphs help students organize concepts and remember important details. For example, a
teacher might partially complete a Venn diagram, a time line or a sentence diagram and
ask students to fill out the rest. Or he might give students a pie chart or a historical
photograph and ask them to explain the significance verbally or in writing. Because
visual examples help students connect data and understand relationships between
concepts, a teacher can evaluate their responses to see if they are truly mastering the
material. Dual coding -- visual representations combined with words -- gives teachers a
means for addressing classroom diversity and a range of learning styles, according to
educator Judith Dodge in her book "25 Quick Formative Assessments for a
Differentiated Classroom."

Flurry of Feedback
Sometimes teachers need quick, reliable feedback from students so they can quickly
adjust their lesson plans for the week. Exit and admit slips are ideal ways to quickly and
effectively assess students' comprehension levels and their understanding of key
concepts, according to the West Virginia Department of Education. An exit slip is a
brief quiz or questionnaire on the current day's lesson that a teacher hands out during
the last five minutes of class and collects as soon as the bell rings. Admit slips are
handed out at the start of class and collected after five minutes. Scores on exit and
admit slips aren't recorded in grade books, but teachers use them to adjust their teaching
methods or review material that wasn't sufficiently learned.

Group and One-on-One Discussions

Question-and-answer sessions offered to the class as a whole -- in small groups and in
personalized individual meetings -- help teachers assess the learning climate in their
classrooms. Teachers can take notes on the discussions and record specific responses so
they can amend and revise their current and future lesson plans. A formative assessment
discussion is a two-way street, so teachers must ensure they aren't monopolizing
conversations. The goal is to get relevant feedback so they clearly can understand what
teaching strategies work best and what methods are least effective.

Report Logs, Not Report Cards

One of the most basic yet most effective formative assessment strategies is classroom
observation. Teachers can watch their students closely and pick up signals that reveal
comprehension levels, material connections, content associations and general interest in
academic content. Teachers must record their anecdotal observations in notebooks or on
note cards so they can watch for progress or shortcomings, according to the West
Virginia Department of Education. For example, a teacher might record letters or
numbers that a young child writes backwards to assess if the child is still memorizing
proper letter formation or if dyslexia is a potential concern. A teacher also might take
notes on how accurately a student reads aloud to help her evaluate reading difficulties
and possible comprehension problems.

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Methods for Middle Schools
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Assessment in the classroom is designed to track student progress, help inform lesson
planning and encourage student growth and achievement. Additionally, assessment
serves to evaluate both student achievement and programs of instruction. Three major
types of assessment are diagnostic, formative and summative. Diagnostic assessment
occurs before instruction, formative assessment occurs during instruction and
summative assessment occurs at the end of instruction.

Importance of Assessment in Middle School

Assessment is part of the process of developing learning strategies for students. At the
middle school level, assessment is important because it teaches students to create
individual and group goals, shows them how to track their own progress and gives them
parameters to determine their own level of achievement. The goal of all types of
assessment at the middle school level is to give a student the means and power to
develop her skills and take an active role in her learning process.
 Methods of Diagnostic Assessment
Diagnostic assessment generally occurs as pretesting or in the form of standardized
testing. Assessments created by McGraw-Hill Education provide testing of middle
school students at regular intervals in core subject areas. For example, the TerraNova
testing series created by McGraw-Hill assesses students' basic and applied skills in
reading, language, mathematics, science and social studies. Results of these
assessments may be both norm-referenced -- compared to the learner's peer group -- or
criterion-referenced -- graded solely for correctness. The results of testing are used by
the teacher to determine student needs before beginning a lesson.

Methods of Formative Assessment

Formative assessment occurs through the course of a lesson or unit and helps the
teacher continually shape the learning experience. Concept maps are an example of
formative assessment. Students may complete a concept map individually or with a
group while reading a textbook, and the teacher can circulate the room and determine
which students have discovered information on their own and fill in the blanks if
necessary. Interviewing students is another method of formative assessment. Teachers
may ask students questions about the lesson either individually or in groups to
determine which concepts have been learned.

Methods of Summative Assessment

Summative assessments occur at the end of the lesson or unit to determine whether
educational objectives were achieved. Portfolio assessment is a method of determining
whether students have reached learning goals for a unit of instruction. Work completed
through the course of a unit is compiled in a portfolio and assessed for student
understanding. Additionally, the portfolio allows both teacher and student to reflect on
learning. A similar method of summative assessment is product assessment, which
evaluates whether a skill has been learned through the creation of a product, such as a
report or presentation.

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 Examples of Formal Reading
Assessment Tools
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The purpose of assessment in K-12 education is to inform instruction and track student
progress. According to Reading Rockets, a program of the U.S. Department of
Education, the four purposes of assessment are: to identify skills that need review, to
assess student progress, to develop teacher instruction and to determine the
effectiveness of an instructional strategy. Formal reading assessments may be given at
the classroom, district, state and national levels.

Iowa Test of Basic Skills

The Iowa Test of Basic Skills may be administered in kindergarten through eighth
grades. Topics in reading skills include reading comprehension, vocabulary and word
analysis. At varying levels of the assessment, comprehension is tested in terms of
individual word understanding, use of context clues and comprehension of literal and
inferential interpretations of texts. The reading comprehension portions of the exam are
administered in two sections of 25 and 30 minutes each.

The Phonological Awareness Test 2

The Phonological Awareness Test 2 is used in kindergarten through fourth grades. The
test assesses a student's understanding of syllables and phonemes as a means of
decoding words. Phonemic awareness is tested through subtests on rhyming,
manipulation of root words, substitution of phonemes, blending sounds, decoding
words and spelling. The test is administered by a reading specialist and includes
demonstration of tasks and manipulation of cubes for substitution components.
 Gray Oral Reading Test
The Gray Oral Reading Test primarily tests reading fluency in students aged six to 18.
The GORT 4 focuses on five reading elements to determine fluency: rate of reading,
accuracy, a combination of rate and accuracy called fluency, comprehension and overall
ability. The test includes fourteen reading passages with five comprehension questions
following each passage.

Test of Word Reading Efficiency

The Test of Word Reading Efficiency assesses the ability to read sight words and to
read non-words formed from common phonemes. The test is administered to people
ages six to 24. For each type of assessment, students are asked to read and pronounce as
many words or phonemic non-words as possible in 45 seconds. The test can help to
assess student ability to read phonemes and can assist in diagnosis of reading
disabilities.

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Standard Reading Assessment

Tests for the Fourth Grade
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The fourth grade year of elementary school is when children typically move from the
earlier emphasis on "learning to read" and begin tackling the academic expectations of
"reading to learn." Teachers monitoring this critical developmental phase may use
assessments in order to assemble benchmarks of growth and pinpoint areas of
weakness. Being able to read and comprehend text is critical for the upcoming years of
learning.

Assessments Provide Specific Data for Teachers

When educators use systematic ways to evaluate and monitor a fourth grader's reading
progress, they are assembling non-biased data to track growth. This information
provides evidence for where teachers can focus more targeted instruction in order to
help readers improve in fluency and comprehension. Additionally, reading assessments
give insight into continued improvements made by children so higher-level reading
material can be provided to challenge strong readers. The fourth grader is mature
enough to be involved in these assessments and use the feedback to make
improvements with increased reading practice.

Reading Fluency
The rate at which a child can read orally and the smoothness of the reading is what is
referred to as fluency. Fluid readers can focus less on decoding, or sounding out words,
and give more attention to understanding the meaning of what is being read. The
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) is one assessment used to
measure fluency. These short tests given three times a year require students to read one-
minute passages that are used as markers for early literacy and reading skills. The
results of the tests can help prevent later reading difficulties by identifying struggling
readers. By fourth grade DIBELS may be used less frequently but still administered
once a twice a year in order to maintain benchmark scores.

Deep Comprehension
When a fourth grade student can give less focus to the phonemic decoding needed for
reading, she is able to turn attention to reading more for pleasure and meaning.
Understanding the content is referred to as comprehension. This is the skill that the
confident fourth grader reader needs to have to move forward in learning new material.
Teachers assess comprehension by asking probing questions that reveal how thoroughly
a child has understood what he or she just decoded. Computer tests such as the
Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) are programmed to present continually adjusted
reading passages based on correct or incorrect responses. The score produces a measure
 called "Lexile Level" which can assist teachers in grouping for targeting reading skill
instruction. The Lexile Level number is used by a number of institutions and libraries
as well to help families select books on an appropriate reading level.

Running Records
Another commonly used assessment tool in fourth grade is a running record. The
student reads aloud and the educator scores each word for accuracy. Additionally, the
teacher notes attitude and behaviors shown when reading, such as fingers following
under text or eyes moving to gain understanding from the pictures rather than the
words. Running records require teachers to use specific notations in order to capture the
reading session and plan appropriate interventions to assist a struggling reader, if
necessary.

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What Do Teachers Do With

Students' DIBELS Reading
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The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills assessments are a battery of
research-based tests designed to measure a student's level of ability in key areas of
reading, including initial sound and letter-naming fluency, phoneme segmentation and
oral reading. Schools that administer these tests use the results to inform teachers about
student progress and skills that need to be re-taught. DIBELS tests last from one to five
minutes, depending upon the skill. Teachers use the results to help them make decisions
regarding lesson planning, grouping and differentiated instruction.

Screening
DIBELS benchmark assessments are usually given three times a year: at the beginning,
middle and end of the school year. The first test administration can be used as a
screening tool. Teachers get results quickly, and they can establish reading groups
based on the abilities and needs of each student. For example, if a student is weak in
letter-naming but strong in initial sound fluency, he can be placed in a group with
others who have similar results and can receive appropriate instruction in these areas.

Progress Monitoring
Progress monitoring assessments follow up the benchmark tests. Not all students are
assessed with this instrument. Usually, students who did not meet the benchmark score
in a specific skill will be tested. Teachers use these results to determine whether
students are improving and showing growth. If they aren't, teachers adjust their
instruction. For example, maybe they need to focus on phonics instead of
comprehension, or they need to emphasize oral reading and retelling.

Intervention
DIBELS assessment results also give teachers information about students who need
intensive reading intervention. Scores are categorized as low-risk, some-risk and at-
risk. Students who consistently score at some-risk and at-risk levels should be targeted
for extra help in the form of small-group instruction, peer tutoring or one-on-one
intervention. The goal of this strategy is to move struggling students out of the at-risk
range.

Instructional Design
Teachers can use DIBELS results to help them design their overall instructional reading
plan. While individual scores help teachers know who is struggling with a specific skill,
the average scores of the group help teachers determine the approach they need to take
with the entire class. For example, teachers with a high proportion of low-risk scores
can tailor their instruction at a more advanced level. Teachers who have more students
scoring at-risk and some-risk can use more small-group instruction.
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Types of Assessment Used by

Middle School Math Teachers
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Using various assessments to determine a student’s math skills produces a

comprehensive picture of academic achievement. Summative and formative
assessments in middle school math classrooms can be used to rate a student's
understanding. Summative assessments are traditional evaluations (i.e., tests) that occur
at the end of a lesson. Formative assessments are taken as the lesson progresses,
allowing the teacher to adapt to the needs of students.

Tests
Standard tests such as true or false, matching, open-ended, multiple-choice and justified
multiple-choice are common in the math classroom. Traditional testing assesses student
recall and comprehension of basic skills. It is also one of the faster ways of evaluating
student learning. Standardized tests are generally presented in a multiple-choice format.
They are a practical option for measuring academic accomplishment across a school,
district or state.

Portfolios and Journals

Portfolios are formative assessments that give students the opportunity to collect work
demonstrating their understanding of a topic. Students select work for their portfolio as
part of the assessment process, and the teacher can consistently review it. Students may
also keep a journal, and write in it on a regular basis. They may respond to specific
prompts from the teacher or do something as simple as writing down a new concept
they learned.

Graphic Organizers and Illustrations

Students can also organize their understanding of a topic using traditional graphic
organizers, including flow charts and Venn diagrams. A flow chart can be used to show
the steps a student took to solve an equation. Venn diagrams may be created to compare
properties of shapes or rational and irrational numbers. These tools will allow a teacher
to assess student learning quickly and decide which topics should be reviewed. Students
can also create illustrations that demonstrate their understanding of properties. A
triangle, for example, might include notes about the number of sides and measure of
angles.

Projects and Performance Tasks

Both projects and performance tasks give students the opportunity to work on extended
problems, either individually or with a group. A project may involve formulating a
problem-solving plan and documenting the results. Projects also leave room for creative
components, including constructing physical representations of computations. A
performance task can take the form of an extended word problem, and students may be
asked to explain each portion of their work.

Observation and Interview

Teachers may observe student performance of mathematical operations during class.
They can also ask the students to explain their thought process as they solve a problem.
An interview assessment allows the teacher to engage the students and guide them
through self-assessment. This produces immediate feedback that helps a teacher quickly
modify the lesson.

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Formal assessments give teachers insight to the academic strength and weakness of
each student and dictate what actions to take for any needed intervention. The data
gathered from a formal assessment will reveal whether low scores are exclusive to the
student or class -- or whether they affect the entire school population.

Accountability

Accountability is the new buzzword for education policymakers, and formal

assessments are tools that will be used to gauge if schools are operating with a high
level of accountability. Formal assessments answer the accountability question with
concrete data. These assessments are valuable tools that educators can use to evaluate
the progress of a student on a particular subject. The use of formal assessments aligns
with the new education reform mandates to use data-driven instruction because of its
ability reveal proficiency levels. They are an indication of how a student is doing and
how well a teacher is performing. Data obtained from formal assessments allow
teachers to see how well a student is progressing and target specific areas.

Response to Intervention

Systematic use of formal assessments will significantly impact the response to

intervention timeframe and help to ensure that all students attain a proficient rating in
academics. A formal assessment will give insight on the level of intervention needed
for a struggling student. Plan RTI using the data from the formal assessments for a
comparative analysis of grade, school, district and national levels. The RTI can be
adjusted after a formal assessment based on the results of the data. The formal
assessments data reveal the needs of students from the national level down to the
individual classroom.

Staying on Top

Analysis of systematic formal assessments answers pertinent questions like, "How am I

doing as a teacher? How am I doing as a student? How am I doing as a class? How are
my students performing compared to their own personal growth, compared to others in
the class and compared to grade level, school, district and state?" The answers will
reveal whether any low scores are exclusive to the targeted audience or whether the
entire school population needs an overhaul. This process will allow teachers, schools
and districts to stay on top of gains and set finish line goals.

Assessment Formats

Many forms of formal assessments are available such as the essay, selected-response
tests and constructed responses. The essay is an excellent opportunity to integrate
Bloom’s taxonomy skills in the curriculum. It allows students to summarize and
synthesize a topic and to develop thinking -- or intellectual -- skills. A constructed
response test tells how well a student can organize, recall, recognize and clearly
communicate previously learned information. Constructed responses require students to
use higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation. An example
of this type of test is a fill-in-the-blank exam. Selected response assessments, on the
other hand, tell if the student has the basic factual information and age-appropriate
cognitive skills by offering multiple-choice answers.
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Reading is more than just recognizing written words on a page. It is a process that
involves several skills that are utilized at one time. These skills are classified under five
main categories: phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency and
comprehension. Effective reading programs will address each of these components and
will determine the method for classroom instruction.

Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness refers to the recognition that words are made of separate sounds
(phonemes) combined together. Phonemic skills are entirely based in the sound of a
word. When children can hear a word and produce the sounds in isolation, they are
mastering phonemic skills. Reading programs address phonemic awareness with
rhyming activities and deleting or substituting phonemes to make new words.

Phonics
Phonics is the integration of phonemic awareness with the printed word. It is a method
of teaching reading built on a letter to sound correspondence. Instruction in phonics
begins with letter naming and recognition and progresses to learning the sounds that
letters make. Eventually children will learn to look at a word, say the sound for each
letter and then blend them to make the word. Phonics is essential for decoding
(sounding out) words and spelling. If readers do not have phonological awareness, they
may spend an inordinate amount of time on pronunciation instead of remembering what
they are reading.

Vocabulary
Vocabulary development is another important component of a reading program.
Sounding out words is not enough. Students must understand the meaning of the words
in order to comprehend what they are reading. Vocabulary is taught in two ways:
explicitly and implicitly. Teachers use vocabulary lists and give direct instruction on
the meaning and usage of each word in explicit instruction. Implicit instruction occurs
during reading when children are able to figure out the meanings of words by looking at
context clues from pictures or other words in the same sentence or paragraph.

Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read accurately and smoothly with expression and at a rate that
enables readers to comprehend what they are reading. Fluency should become stronger
as a student is exposed to more books and has frequent opportunities to read. Reading
programs stress fluency through the use of activities like echo and choral reading,
which give students an opportunity to practice good reading skills and emulate the
teacher who acts as a fluency model.

Comprehension
Comprehension is the culmination of reading skills learned in the other four
components of mastering reading. Simply stated, comprehension is the ability to
understand what's being read. A student who can decode words, understand their
meanings and read fluently will be able to comprehend a story. Comprehension can be
assessed with questions that ask readers to identify basic story components like
characters, setting and plot. Advanced comprehension, including predicting,
summarizing and critical thinking, are introduced in more advanced grade levels after
students have a firm grasp of the basics.
 REFERENCES

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The Pros & Cons of Report

Cards & Letter Grades
ByBill Reynolds

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Issued up to four times throughout the school year, “letter grade” report cards detail
students’ general academic performance. As many public schools are transitioning to
standards-based grading systems, which rate a student’s proficiency in individual
standards-based skills, traditional letter grades may one day become a thing of the past.
While it can be difficult to determine if standards-based grading is ultimately superior,
it can be useful to review the pros and cons of traditional letter grades.

Easy Assessment
Traditional report cards provide students an easy-to-understand method of monitoring
their own academic progress. On that same token, parents can reap the benefits of
simple letter grades. Without having to worry about too much academic detail, parents
 can take a quick glance at a report card and get a fairly accurate idea about how their
child is doing in class. Letter grades make it easy for parents to identify the general
quality of their children’s classroom efforts.

Track Record
Public schools have been using report cards and letter grades to record student
achievement for many years. New scoring systems like standards-based grading have
not yet proven their long-term effectiveness. Advocates of letter grades may argue that
students have received letter grades -- without issue -- for a long time; "If it ain't broke,
why fix it?" Many parents and guardians are familiar with the letter-grade system, and
they may find alternate systems confusing.

Student Motivation
Because each letter grade generalizes a certain percentile range, students may strive
simply to attain the lowest possible percentile associated with their target grade. For
instance, students can earn themselves a B by achieving a percentile as low as 80 or as
high as 89. With this being the case, students hoping to earn a B in any given class may
lose some motivation once they feel their grade percentile has reached the low 80s.
Students may be happy to “just get by.”

Accuracy Issues
Letter grades often assess more than just academic performance. Factors such as
attendance, class participation and late assignments can have a sizable impact on a
student’s final letter grade. Students who have high scores in these factors -- but
struggle with class lessons -- may end up receiving the similar grades as their higher-
performing classmates who struggle with attendance and class participation. As a result,
traditional letter grades don’t always portray an accurate reading of a student’s purely
academic abilities.

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 What Is the Basal Reading
Approach?
ByShayla Braunshausen

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Teaching Reading?

The Basal Reading Approach is a technique used to teach children reading skills. Basal
stems from the word "base" or "basic." Commonly called "reading books" or "readers,"
basal readers are short stories, including individual books for learners, a teacher's
edition, workbooks, assessments and activities for a specific reading level.

History
The first series of basal readers was created by William McGuffey and emerged into the
school setting in the 19th century. The primary books followed an approach to teaching
reading that relied on phonemic awareness and decoding. Over time, a new series of
readers were developed for older students, which focused more on oral reading and
presentation along with reading for understanding. The Dick and Jane series created in
the 1930s, written by William S. Gray, focused more on reading the whole word using
repetition instead of phonics.

The Modern Day Basal Reader

When working with basal readers, students are divided into groups according to their
reading abilities. The books are taught in order of sequence with the teacher providing
post-reading comprehension activities. The intent of the basal reader is to teach children
to read at or above grade-level expectations and give students all the skills they need to
make reading progress.

A typical lesson would start with building students' background to activate their prior
knowledge. Then students are introduced to vocabulary words. Next, the class makes
 predictions about the story, and guided reading begins with the teacher. Once the
reading is complete, students refer back to their previous predictions and complete a
comprehensive discussion, followed by extension projects and activities.

Advantages
With an increasing emphasis on academic standards, basal readers give teachers a
curriculum that is organized. Teachers have the tools they need to assess student
learning and guidance to expand each lesson. The freedom to adjust lessons to meet
students' abilities and individual needs is an advantage of the basal reading program.
Books are arranged in ascending difficulty and reading skills are gradually introduced.
Students are introduced to a plethora of literary genres, and the structure of basal
reading programs is reassuring to administrators who know that important reading skills
are being taught.

Disadvantages
The basal reading method is intended for groups of readers. A structure like this does
not provide a variety of teaching methods for different types of learners. The approach
can make it difficult to teach gifted, talented, advanced students and students with
learning disabilities. Because the program is progressive, students who have less
language understanding at the beginning of the program could start at a disadvantage.
Basal readers may be too rigid and not engaging enough for students because they do
not match children's interests.

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Reading Comprehension
Activities With Newspapers for
Middle School Students
ByJana Sosnowski
 

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Lessons with newspaper articles provide practical reading experience through analyzing
nonfiction text. Integrating newspapers encourages civic engagement and meets the
increased focus on reading informational texts at all grade levels in the Common Core
State Standards for English Language Arts. In middle school, goals include determining
main ideas, understanding structure and developing domain-specific vocabulary from
nonfiction sources.

Anticipation Guides
Engaging students in the reading process begins before the student sees the newspaper
article. Anticipation guides distributed prior to reading help students identify with the
topic and understand potentially difficult concepts. The guides provide facts and
background information for students in the form of lecture notes, lists or short reading
assignments. Background information provides a foundation for understanding the
current news article, and students can practice identifying fact and opinion. For
example, an anticipation activity asks students to determine whether each statement on
a list is true or false based on what they know prior to reading. Once reading is
complete, students repeat the exercise to determine whether any of their answers
change.

Comprehension Questions and Graphic Organizers

While reading a news article, two activities may guide students through comprehension
of the text. Students answer comprehension questions as they read to ensure that they
are noticing key topics. The teacher can create questions that follow the sequence of the
news article to ensure student understanding. A similar strategy uses concept maps to
organize information as students read. Sections on the concept map may ask students to
identify main ideas, key dates or important figures in the news story. Students may also
define unknown words on a graphic organizer as they read.

Using Questions to Increase Comprehension

 Teachers may read newspaper articles aloud with students to model strategies for
comprehending texts or to engage students in immediate discussion about the topic. As
students follow along, teachers may periodically stop reading to ask students questions
or answer any student questions about the text. The question and answer session allows
teachers to immediately determine how much students understand and re-teach
background information if necessary. Once the teacher models appropriate questioning
about a news article, the exercise can be repeated in small group work.

Post-Reading Activities
After reading a news article, comprehension activities focus on overall main idea,
vocabulary and understanding structure. One activity to determine main idea asks
students to write summaries for individual paragraphs or sections to practice synthesis
of information. Defining unknown words increases student vocabulary, and asking
students to order the events in a news article gives exposure to article structure, which
may not always describe events sequentially. Finally, assigning students to teach an
article to their classmates determines overall student understanding of the article.

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Importance of Assessments in
School
BySamuel Hamilton

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Though students don’t always like them, assessments are important to ensure students
learn everything they should in a manner that is appropriate. The importance of
assessments in schools emerges primarily from the assessment’s role in helping
teachers and administrators determine the type and manner in which material is covered
in classes.

Student Progress
According to Barbara Wolvoord and Trudy Banta, assessments designed to evaluate
student progress throughout a course are called formative assessments. Formative
assessments allow both students and teachers to identify subjects and materials which
students are learning successfully, and those with which they still struggle. Carefully
administered formative assessments enable teachers to modify their lessons to provide
enrichment to those students who are excelling with certain material, while also
providing remediation to those students who are struggling with certain material.

Student Goals
Wolvoord and Banta state that assessments designed to evaluate student
accomplishment in a course are called summative assessment. Summative assessments
provide raw data on how much of a certain subject or material students learned
successfully over the course of a quarter, trimester, semester, school year, or school
career. Carefully administered summative assessment enables teachers and school
administrators to determine which students should advance to the next level of
education, and what some students need to repeat materials again.

Teacher Effectiveness
In some areas -- most notably at the secondary level -- students’ achievement on state-
issued standardized assessments have been linked with teacher effectiveness. According
to Robert Marzano et. al, these assessments give lawmakers outside of the field of
education a mechanism for rating teachers as effective or ineffective, thereby
empowering those same lawmakers to pass widespread educational “reforms” and
ouster so-called “ineffective” teachers.

Appropriate Material
When comparing two different versions of the same class in the same school, or even
the same grade level at two different schools, assessments can provide valuable
information on the appropriateness of the material covered and the time allowed for that
coverage. Wolvoord and Banta suggest that some formative assessments can reveal
student understanding of some material and their lack of understanding with other
material. By using such assessments, school administrators and teachers can make
adjustments to curriculum and coverage time to ensure that students in different
 sections of the same school district, or even district schools altogether, cover material at
a similarly appropriate pace.

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