APPENDIX E

ASSESSING READING
____________________________________________________________________________

This chapter describes assessment activities in reading that support the

implementation of the English Profiles. First, links between the assessment
of reading and reading development are outlined. Second, tools for
assessing reading are described. Third, approaches to assessing specific
aspects of reading such as emergent literacy, phonemic awareness, oral
reading, meaning vocabulary, and reading comprehension are examined.

LINKING ASSESSMENT TO READING DEVELOPMENT

Individual differences in reading development can often be viewed in

terms of the extent to which they represent deviations from normal
development. The English Profiles provide a broad indication of normal
(expected) development in reading, in that specific indicators are set out
for each class level, and progression can be traced through the indicator
sets from one class level to the next. Another vantage point from which to
view reading development arises from stage models of reading acquisition.
These models outline in considerable detail the phases that children
generally pass through from the earliest stages of learning to read (the
emergent literacy phase) to the ‘reading to learn’ stage that many pupils
enter in the senior classes in primary school. One such model is presented
here1 to provide a framework with which the assessment of reading can be
viewed. The main cues and skills associated with each phase in the model
are given in Figure E-1.

Emergent/Pre-alphabetic Phase (up to 5 years)

During this phase, many children acquire the knowledge that is important
for subsequent reading development. This includes an understanding of
the conventions of print (for example, words consist of letters, text
progresses from left to right), the purposes and functions of print, letter
name knowledge, and phonemic awareness (an awareness of the sounds in
spoken words). Some of this knowledge is acquired informally at home;
some may be acquired as a result of structured learning experiences that
are offered at school.

In addition to refining their emergent literacy skills, children in this stage

acquire a knowledge of some sight words. However, early word reading
may be based on forming arbitrary connections between selected aspects of

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 Appendix E

words and pronunciations or meanings. For example, a reader in this phase

might recognise the word ‘camel’ by the two humps in the middle or the
word ‘dog’ by the tail dangling at the end. Unlike later phases of sight word
development, connections are not based on letter names or letter-sound
relations, hence the term ‘pre-alphabetic’.

Partial Alphabetic Phase (5-6 years)

In this phase, children begin to form alphabetic connections between
some of the letters in written words and the sounds detected in their
pronunciation. The initial and final sounds are often selected as the cues
to be remembered. A child in this phase might substitute a word with
another word that begins with the same letter, such as bird for bear. In
order to use initial and final letter cues effectively, partial alphabetic
readers need to be able to segment the initial and final sounds in spoken
words and know the sounds represented by initial and final letters.

Full Alphabetic Phase (6-7 years)

Beginning readers remember how to read sight words by ‘forming
complete connections between letters seen in written forms of words and
phonemes detected in pronunciations’.2 Successful reading in this phase
hinges on three skills: (i) ability to segment spoken words into their
phonemes; (ii) knowledge of letter-sound correspondences; and (iii)
ability to blend sounds to form words. Initially, word identification may
involve vocalising each sound sequentially before blending. With
practice, readers can execute the process rapidly and automatically by
applying hierarchical decoding rules (i.e., rules which govern the
pronunciation of several letters in a word). Fluency begins to develop
through daily independent reading of texts that are at an appropriate
level of difficulty.

Consolidated Alphabetic Phase (7-8 years)

Children who have encountered many different words in their reading
begin to consolidate connections between letter patterns that recur across
different words. Repeated encounters with a letter sequence that
symbolises the same sound(s) across different words can yield a
consolidated unit. Consolidation allows readers to operate with multi-
letter units that may be morphemes (e.g., -ing), syllables, or syllabic units
such as onsets and rimes. At this stage ‘children's sight vocabularies
grow large enough to support the consolidation of frequently occurring
letter patterns into units’.3 During this phase, children grow in their
ability to recognise words automatically, without having to think
consciously about word structure or spelling patterns. One authority4
labelled this stage as ‘confirmation, fluency and ungluing’ and
emphasised the importance of providing children with a range of
different text types on which to apply new skills.

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Figure E-1 Phases of Reading Development and Associated Cues

Phase/Age Range Dominant Cues Associated Skills

Emergent/Pre-alphabetic Salient visual cues in Knowledge that print has
(Up to 5 years) letters meaning; awareness of
words and syllables

Partial Alphabetic Some letter-sound Segmentation of initial/final

(5-6 years) correspondences (initial/ sounds in spoken words;
knowledge of initial/final
final letter sounds) letter sounds

Full Alphabetic Many letter-sound Segmentation of all the

(6-7 years) correspondences sounds in spoken words;
knowledge of most letter-
sound correspondences;
blending

Consolidated Alphabetic Multi-letter units Consolidation of multi-letter

(7-8 years) (subsyllabic units, prefixes, units (spelling patterns)
suffixes, syllables)

Reading to Learn Multi-letter units, Activating background

(Ages 9-13) vocabulary knowledge, knowledge; applying
comprehension strategies;
text structure comprehension monitoring

Reading to Learn Phase (9-13 years)

This phase has been described as the one in which the emphasis on
teaching basic reading skills decreases, and the focus shifts to helping
pupils to acquire functional reading skills and strategies.5 There is a shift
from oral reading to silent reading, and a greater emphasis is placed on
functional and recreational reading than on developmental (basic)
reading. Comprehension skills and study strategies can be acquired
through reading both narrative and informational texts, including texts
in the areas of history, geography and science. Pupils develop strategies
for activating background knowledge, identifying word meanings
(vocabulary development), identifying the structure of narrative and
informational texts, identifying important information (such as main
ideas) in texts, and monitoring (assessing) their own comprehension so
that they can take appropriate steps if comprehension breaks down.
While many of these strategies can be introduced during earlier phases of
learning to read, they should be emphasised and applied with greater
consistency and in a broader range of texts at this stage.

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TOOLS FOR ASSESSING READING

Unlike the area of oral language, where relatively few measures of

achievement are available, teachers have access to a wide range of formal
and informal measures of reading achievement. In addition to the reading
element of the English Profile, these include standardised tests of reading
achievement, diagnostic tests, checklists and portfolios.

Standardised Norm-Referenced Tests of Achievement

Standardised norm-referenced tests of reading include group- and
individually-administered tests that cover such aspects of reading as
phonemic awareness, word reading, sentence comprehension, reading
vocabulary, and comprehension of longer texts. Derived scores, such as
standard scores, percentile ranks or indeed reading ages, provide an overall
indication of a pupil’s achievement with reference to local or national
norms. In general, standardised tests do not provide the detailed
information about a pupil’s reading that is needed to conduct an assessment
using the English Profiles. For example, if a pupil achieves a low overall score
on a standardised test of reading, it may be due to poor word identification
skills, difficulties with phonological skills, difficulties with meaning
vocabulary/background knowledge, poor reading comprehension skills, or
some combination of these elements.

Diagnostic Tests
Diagnostic tests may be administered when more detailed information
about a child’s reading is required. Among the aspects of reading that are
assessed by such tests are:

• visual/auditory discrimination
• concepts about print
• phonemic awareness
• recognition of rhyming words
• letter recognition
• knowledge of letter-sound correspondences
• word identification skills
• reading accuracy
• reading rate/fluency
• listening comprehension
• reading comprehension

Diagnostic tests are generally administered to individual pupils who

experience or are likely to experience difficulty in learning to read. The
outcomes of a diagnostic test point to a pupil’s strengths and weaknesses
in reading, and can be taken into account when planning a pupil’s learning
programme. However, caution should be exercised in moving directly
from diagnostic assessment to instruction. A pupil may do poorly on an

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aspect of reading (or memory) measured by a diagnostic test, yet there

may be little evidence that the construct measured by the test is amenable
to instruction, or that it is a priority area of instruction for a pupil. For
example, poor performance on a diagnostic test of reading comprehension
may be due to difficulties with word identification or poor vocabulary
knowledge, and instruction in these areas might need to precede or be
provided along with instruction in reading comprehension.

Informal Assessments
Finally, teachers can engage in informal assessment of a child’s reading in
a variety of instructional contexts. For example, careful observation of one
or two individuals during a class activity designed to develop phonemic
awareness, blending of letter sounds, or application of a reading
comprehension strategy can provide valuable assessment information that
can be drawn on in profiling the pupils’ achievement at the end of the
school year. Checklists (lists of skills that pupils at a particular stage of
development might be expected to exhibit), rating scales, and anecdotal
notes (short notes composed by the teacher) are useful tools for recording
assessment information obtained informally. Checklists can be selected
from among those that are commercially available, or can be constructed
by teachers to reflect the particular emphasis in their school or classroom
as they implement the curriculum.

One informal measure that can easily be applied by class teacher is the
running record, a variation of a more detailed approach to analysing pupils’
oral reading errors that is known as miscue analysis. Taking a running
record of a pupil’s oral reading involves counting the number of errors (if
any) that are made in a text of given length to obtain a measure of reading
accuracy (the percentage of words read correctly), and estimating the pupil’s
reading rate (measured in words read per minute). The nature of any
reading errors that the child makes can provide insights into his/her word
recognition strategies, while the pupil’s overall performance can guide the
teacher in deciding whether or not the text is at an appropriate level of
difficulty (see page 101-106).

The informal reading assessments that teachers conduct are particularly

relevant to rating pupils achievement on the English Profiles since they
often assess elements of reading that may not be accessible through the
administration of standardised, norm-referenced tests or diagnostic tests.

STRATEGIES FOR ASSESSING SELECTED ASPECTS OF READING

In this section, strategies for assessing the following aspects of reading are
addressed: emergent literacy skills, phonemic awareness, word
recognition, meaning vocabulary, comprehension of narrative texts, and
comprehension of informational texts.

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 Appendix E

1. Emergent Literacy (Pre-reading) Skills

As indicated in the model of reading development presented earlier, the
emergent literacy skills that children should acquire before the beginning
of formal reading instruction include conventions of print (that words
consist of letters, that text progresses from left to right etc.), the purposes
and functions of print, letter name knowledge, and phonemic awareness
(ability to identify and manipulate the sounds in spoken words). Some of
these insights are acquired informally at home or in playschool settings
(for example, during storybook reading and daily living routines); others
are acquired or built on as a result of structured learning experiences in
school, such as shared reading activities or guided writing. Figure E-2 lists
some of the indicators of emergent literacy skills that are found in the
reading element of the English Profiles.

Figure E-2 Selected Indicators — Emergent Literacy

• Responds to and understands print concepts such as letter, word, sentence, line
and page (Jnr. Infs., Ind. 7)
• Relates printed signs, labels and notices in the classroom to their meaning (Jnr. Infs.,
Ind. 2)
• Recognises simple differences between text types (Snr. Infs., Ind. 8)
• Identifies words that rhyme in a set of spoken words (Jnr. Infs., Ind. 5)
• Recognises and names most upper- and lower-case letters of the alphabet (Jnr.
Infs., Ind. 4)

A number of formal tests designed to assess emergent literacy skills have

been published in recent years. Among the elements of emergent literacy
that are measured by such tests are:
• An understanding that print rather than pictures carries meaning
• An understanding that reading proceeds in a left to right direction
• Understanding of terms associated with reading (e.g., first, last,
beginning, end)
• Ability to discriminate among letters, words and sentences
• Identification of basic elements of punctuation (full stops, question
marks etc.)
Children’s emergent literacy skills can also be assessed informally in the
context of early reading and writing activities. Part of this involves
observing children as they interact with stories and other forms of print.
Teachers will obtain information on children’s knowledge of the parts of a
book, their understanding of the language of reading, or their ability to
track print when listening to and looking at a book being read aloud.
Checklists are useful tools for recording the results of informal assessments
of children’s emergent literacy skills. In some checklists, reading and
writing skills will appear side by side (see Figure E-3).

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Figure E-36 Checklist of Emergent Reading and Writing Skills

First Second Third

Skill Observation* Observation* Observation*
Date: Date: Date:
Knows the parts of a book and their functions
Begins to track print when listening to a familiar
text being read or when rereading own writing
Reads familiar texts emergently (i.e., without
reading verbatim from the print)
Recognises some words by sight, including a
few very common ones (a, the, I, my, you, is)
Correctly answers questions about stories read
aloud
Listens attentively to books teacher reads to
class
Demonstrates familiarity with a number of
types of genres or texts (e.g., storybooks,
informational books, newspapers, and
everyday print such as signs, notices and
labels)
Notices when simple sentences fail to make
sense
Retells, re-enacts, or dramatises stories or parts
of stories
Recognises and can name all upper-case and
lower-case letters
Learns many, though not all, one-to-one letter
sound correspondences
Makes predictions based on illustrations or
portions of stories
Given a spoken word, can produce another
word that rhymes with it
Given a set of spoken sounds, can merge
(blend) them into a meaningful target word
Independently writes most upper- and lower-
case letters
Writes unconventionally to express own
meaning
Can name some book titles and authors
*Scoring Key: ++ Skill clearly demonstrated
+ Some evidence of skill being demonstrated
- Skill not demonstrated

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 Appendix E

2. Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness — the ability to segment words into their constituent
sounds or phonemes — is critically important for acquiring the alphabetic
principle (the understanding that the letters and spellings of words can be
mapped onto the speech units they represent). Unlike oral language, in
which attention to the individual sounds in words is rarely necessary,
reading and spelling require children to have a conscious awareness of,
and be able to manipulate the sounds in spoken words. Phonemic
awareness emerges from a more general collection of phonological
awareness skills such as the ability to segment a sentence into words, and
the ability to segment a word into its constituent syllables. Phonemic
awareness is more difficult, and emerges later than awareness of words in
sentences or of syllables in words, though it is more directly relevant to the
development of reading and spelling in the junior primary classes than in
the senior classes. It has been observed that the relationship between
phonemic awareness and reading is causal and reciprocal — causal in that
skill in phonemic awareness has been identified as a necessary (but not
sufficient) prerequisite for learning to read, and reciprocal in that reading
itself contributes to the development of more complex forms of phonemic
awareness, such as the deletion or substitution of sounds in words. Figure
E-4 shows some indicators of phonemic awareness that appear in the
reading element of the English Profiles.

Figure E-4 Selected Indicators — Phonemic Awareness

• Identifies initial and final sounds in spoken words (Junior Infs., Ind. 8)
• Understands the one-to-one correspondence between written and spoken words
(Junior Infants, Ind. 6)
• Identifies words that rhyme in a set of spoken words (Junior Infs. Ind. 5)
• Breaks spoken words into their constituent sounds (Senior Infs., Ind. 9)
• Identifies words that rhyme in a set of spoken words (Senior Infs., Ind. 4)

As with emergent literacy, a number of standardised and non-

standardised tests of phonemic awareness have been developed.7
Typically, such tests are administered to pupils in the 5-7 years age range
who may be at risk of experiencing difficulties in learning to read, and
older pupils who have reading difficulties. Among the activities that may
be found in tests of phonemic awareness are:

• Rhyming words – identifying the words that rhyme in a set of

spoken words.
• Odd-word-out – identifying the ‘odd word out’ in a set of spoken
words (e.g., {leg, peg, hen, beg}, or {sun, sea, sock, rag}).

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• Sound to word matching – indicating whether a particular sound can

be found in a spoken word (Is there is a /m/ in man?).
• Blending sounds – forming a word by blending a sequence of spoken
sounds (e.g., blend the sounds /m/ /a/ /n/ to form man).
• Isolating sounds in words – identifying and stating the sound heard at
the beginning, middle or end of a spoken word.
• Segmenting words into phonemes – segmenting a spoken word into its
constituent sounds (e.g., say make slowly so that I can hear all the
sounds).
• Counting phonemes – tapping the number of sounds in a spoken
word (e.g., tap the sounds you hear in man).
• Deleting phonemes – deleting a specified sound at the beginning,
middle or end of a word (e.g., what is sat without the /s/?).
• Substituting phonemes – substituting a specified phoneme for
another at the beginning or end of a word (say fat; now take away
the beginning sound and replace it with /m/).

There are several classroom activities that can provide teachers with
assessment information about beginning readers’ phonemic awareness.
For example, pupils’ ability to recall and recite nursery rhymes is one
broad indicator. Observations of pupils’ attempts to spell unknown words
can also point to whether or not they have difficulties with phonemic
awareness. Pupils who have some phonemic awareness will demonstrate a
relationship between sounds and letters in their spelling, even if their
attempts are unsuccessful in an overall or conventional sense. The use of
children’s approximate (invented) spellings to make inferences about their
learning needs is addressed in Appendix F.

As with other aspects of English, it is important to maintain informal

records of pupils’ development in phonemic awareness. These include
anecdotal notes, checklists and samples of pupils’ work (for example, their
approximate spellings).

3. Word Identification
As children emerge from pre-alphabetic/emergent literacy stage, and have
acquired some level of phonemic awareness, attention will turn to
assessing their word identification skills. The indicators in Figure E-5 point
to the range of cues that may be used in word recognition [i.e., semantic
(meaning), syntactic (grammatical) and grapho-phonic (phonological)] as
well as to other aspects of word identification than can profitably be
assessed. In general, pupils in the junior classes will be assessed on their
achievement of these indicators. However, the indicators may also be of
some use to teachers of pupils in the senior classes who experience
problems identifying words.

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 Appendix E

Figure E-5 Selected Indicators — Word Identification

• Identifies a set of basic sight words in familiar and unfamiliar contexts (Jun. Infs.
Ind. 1)
• Uses spelling patterns (rimes) in known words to identify unknown words (Sen.
Infs., Ind. 6)
• Uses knowledge of sentence context and letter-sound correspondences to read
unknown words (Sen. Infs., Ind 5)
• Demonstrates flexibility in combining several cues to read unknown words in a
range of texts (First Class, Ind. 10)
• Identifies and blends consonant and vowel patterns (such as onsets and rimes) to
read unfamiliar words (First Class, Ind. 8)
• Identifies inflectional endings (-ed, -s(-es), -ing, -ly, -er, and -est) while reading
words in context (First Class, Ind. 6)
• Divides unfamiliar words into syllables to assist with identification (Second
Class, Ind. 2)

Word identification can be assessed using a range of tools including

group-administered standardised tests, individually-administered
standardised tests, and informal assessments (see Figure E-6). Where
group-administered standardised tests include a word analysis subtest, a
pupil’s score can provide an overall indication of his/her word
identification skills relative to other pupils at the same class level, or in
the same age range, and indicate whether further testing, using a more
refined diagnostic instrument, might be needed. Standardised graded
word and sentence reading tests provide somewhat more information.
These tests, which are usually administered on an individual basis, call
on a pupil to read aloud a set of words or sentences that are graded in
difficulty, until a ceiling level is reached. The tests allow the teacher to
estimate the breadth of a pupil’s sight word knowledge. In addition,
pupil’s errors can indicate instructional needs. Among the difficulties
that might be observed are:

• inability to use context clues;

• overuse of context clues (e.g., over-guessing);
• poor phonemic awareness;
• poor knowledge of letter/sound correspondences (phonics);
• over-reliance on initial letters/sounds to read unknown words;
• inability to blend sounds to form words;
• inability to segment written words into syllables.

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Figure E-6 Aspects of Word Identification Assessed by Formal and Informal Measures

Measure Word Identification Elements Assessed

Group-administered Phonics/word analysis skills
standardised reading tests Ability to read words, sentences, and paragraphs
silently
Individually-administered Knowledge of sight words
Formal standardised word and Ability to identify words in sentences
sentence reading tests
Diagnostic reading tests Sight word knowledge
Knowledge of letter-sound correspondences (phonics);
Ability to blend sounds to form words
Ability to identify words in context
Running records (Records of Sight vocabulary
pupils’ oral reading errors) Reading rate
Informal Reading fluency
Quality of oral reading errors in context (e.g., use of
semantic, syntactic and grapho-phonic cues)

Many diagnostic tests include subtests that assess one or more aspects of
word identification, including sight word knowledge and a variety of
phonics skills. In some cases, phonics skills may be assessed using regularly
spelled nonsense or pseudo words in order to eliminate the effects of other
word identification strategies (e.g., knowledge of sight words).

An assessment tool that can be incorporated in existing reading

programmes is the running record — an informal assessment of oral
reading that enables teachers to monitor and interpret, in a systematic
manner, the word identification errors that a pupil makes. The analysis of
a pupil’s oral reading errors can show the degree to which the pupil uses
grapho-phonic (phonetic), semantic (meaning) and syntactic (grammatical)
information to identify words in context, and the extent to which meaning
is being monitored.8 When time permits, a running record of the oral
reading errors of each lower-achieving pupil in the junior classes should be
conducted at least once a week. According to one authority ‘running
records are taken without marking a prepared script. They may be done on
any piece of paper. With practice, teachers can take a running record at any
time, anywhere’. 9 However, teachers who are new to the technique may
wish to record a pupil’s errors on a copy of the pupil’s text. The following
administration procedures should be followed:

1. A passage or story of between 100 and 200 words should be selected.

Passages that are shorter than 100 words may be used with children in
the infants classes. A set of between 5 and 10 questions about the
passage should be developed.

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 Appendix E

2. The running record may be taken as the pupil reads the text aloud. A
record of the pupil’s oral reading errors should be made on a copy of the
text, or on a blank sheet of paper. Figure E-7 illustrates the most
common errors that are recorded and the symbols that can be used to
record them, while Figure E-8 shows how a pupil’s errors can be
recorded on a text

3. After the pupil has finished reading, the number of errors in each of the
following scorable categories should be computed — insertions,
substitutions, omissions, mispronunciations, non-responses; and the
number in each of these non-scorable categories — self-corrections,
repetitions, hesitations, and transpositions. Scorable errors are defined as
those that interfere with meaning.

4. This and other relevant information about the pupil’s behaviours should
be recorded using an appropriate recording format such as an Oral
Reading Analysis Record Sheet (Figure E-9).

5. The pupil’s oral reading accuracy score should be computed. This

involves subtracting the number of scorable reading errors from the total
number of words in the passage, and dividing the result by the number of
words in the passage. For example, if a pupil make 20 scorable errors in a
200 words passage, his/her oral reading accuracy would be 180/200 or 90%.

6. The pupil’s reading comprehension score should be computed and

recorded. If the pupil correctly answered 7 of 10 questions, his/her
score would be 70%.

7. Although not essential, it may be helpful to record a judgement regarding

whether or not the text read by the pupil is at his/her independent,
instructional or frustration level, using the criteria in Figure E-10
The independent reading level is the level at which a pupil should be able
to read without help of any kind from the teacher. This is the level at
which one would normally expect the pupil to be reading when he or
she reads a library book selected voluntarily.
The instructional reading level is the reading level at which a pupil would
normally be reading when required to read a history, geography or
environmental studies text, or a class reader, without having had a
chance to read it previously.
The frustration reading level is the level at which reading material simply
becomes too difficult for the pupil to read.

8. Make a judgement regarding the pupil’s reading rate, which is

measured in number of words per minute. The following are suggested
minimum rates for instructional-level materials: Senior Infants: 50
words per minute; First Class: 60 words per minute; Second Class: 70
words per minute; and Third Class: 80 words per minute. Reading rates

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 Assessing Reading

that fall below the suggested levels may point to text that is too difficult,
or to general difficulties with word identification processes.

9. Record the number of oral reading errors in each category on the Oral
Reading Analysis Record Sheet. The number of non-scorable errors
relative to the number of scorable errors is an important indicator of
strategy usage in oral reading, with more proficient readers making
more non-scorable than scorable errors.

10. Complete the section, ‘Analysis of Oral Reading’, on the Oral Reading
Analysis Record Sheet. For each element, indicate whether (a) there is
no difficulty; (b) some attention is required; or (c) there is a clear
problem. The errors of pupils who use semantic context clues tend to
reflect the meaning of a text (e.g., ‘I climbed the steps (instead of
stairs)’). A syntactically appropriate error usually represent the same
part of speech as the word in the original text (for example, ‘steps’ is
syntactically acceptable in the above example since, like stairs, it is a
noun). Finally, a grapho-phonically appropriate error shares some
elements with the target word (e.g., ‘pretend’ for ‘prevent’).

The records of a pupil’s oral reading errors that a teacher develops can be
used to make inferences about pupils’ learning needs, and can also serve as
reference sources when the English Profiles are being completed at the end
of the school year.
Figure E-7 Conventions Used for Recording Oral Reading Errors

Scorable-Error Marking Example

Omissions Circle the omission He likes the big yellow car.
is
Insertions Use caret (^), add insertion He likes the big yellow car.
^ red
Substitutions Cross out original, add He likes the big yellow car.
substitution looks
Mispronunciations Write phonetical pronunciation He likes the big yellow car.
NR
*Non-response Write NR over pronounced He likes the big yellow car.
(Wait 5 seconds before words.
providing help)
Non-scorable Error Marking Example
SC
Self-Correction Write SC above the text word. He likes the big yellow car.
Repetition Underline word/phrase each He likes the big yellow car.
time it is repeated.
Hesitation Put a checkmark at the point of
9
He likes the big yellow car.
hesitation.
Transposition Put reverse S around transposed He likes the big yellow car.
items.

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 Appendix E

Figure E-8 Example of Marked-Up Text

bench
The children had been playing on the beach all day. It was getting late
bottles
now and they gathered up the buckets, spades, balls, boats and other toys.
NR
As they made their way towards the station, Paula noticed that Scruffy
missed fifty
was missing. ‘He was here just fifteen minutes ago,’ said Tom. ‘I saw him

chasing another dog in the water.’ The children looked back to the sea.
mother
There was no sign of Scruffy, or any other dog for that matter. The

children searched everywhere, but still they could not find Scruffy. They
quickly offer
walked quietly back to the station.* The man in the ticket office said he

would look out for Scruffy, and took their telephone number, just in case

the dog showed up later.

*Non-scorable error (repeated word)

Total Words: 123; Total Scorable Errors: 9; Accuracy: 114/123=93%

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 Assessing Reading

Figure E-9 Oral Reading Analysis Record Sheet

Pupil’s Name: __________________ Class : ______________ Teacher: ______________

Reader/Text: ___________________ Page(s): ___________ Date: _________________

Pupil’s Behaviours during Oral Reading (yes/no)

Excessive head movement Word-by-word reading
Finger pointing Poor phrasing
Disregard for punctuation Pauses
Loss of place Hesitates
Does not read in natural voice tone. Voicing or lip movement
Reading Level
Reading Accuracy: _____% Reading Comprehension: _____%
Pupil’s overall reading level for the passage: (Tick one)
Independent __ Instructional __ Frustration __
Reading Rate (Tick one)
Fast __ Adequate __ Slow__
Analysis of Oral Reading Errors
Number Error (scorable) Number Error (non-scorable)

Omission Self-correction
Insertion Repetition
Substitution Hesitation
Mispronunciation Transposition
Non-response
Word Analysis Skills (Tick one box in each row)
No Some Attention
Problem
Difficulty Required
Uses semantic (meaning) context clues
Uses syntactic (grammar) context clues
Uses grapho-phonic clues
Combines cues to identify unknown words
Self-corrects oral reading errors
Breaks longer words into parts
Identifies long and short vowel sounds

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 Appendix E

Figure E-10 Criteria for Identifying a Pupil’s Independent, Instructional and

Frustration Reading Levels.

Level Reading Accuracy Comprehension

Independent 99%-100% 90%-100%

Instructional 95% - 99% 50% - 90%

Frustration < 90% < 50%

4. Meaning Vocabulary
Many pupils who pass through the early phases of learning to read
without undue difficulty may run into problems when they encounter
more complex texts from third class onwards. Vocabulary knowledge, or
knowledge of word meanings, has been identified as a primary factor in
limiting reading growth, reflecting an increasing inter-dependence
between reading vocabulary and reading comprehension once children’s
basic word identification skills have been established. Figure E-11 lists
some of the indicators of meaning vocabulary in the reading element of the
English Profiles.

Figure E-10 Selected Indicators — Meaning Vocabulary

• Uses context to define the meanings of words (Second Class, Ind. 7)

• Identifies common prefixes, suffixes and inflectional endings while reading
words in context (Second Class, Ind. 4)
• Identifies the meanings of new words in running text by using a range of cues
(Third Class, Ind. 9)
• Identifies and understands the contribution to meaning of prefixes, suffixes and
word roots (Fourth Class, Ind. 6)
• Uses the dictionary and thesaurus to select word meanings that are appropriate
to given contexts, including words with multiple meanings (Fifth Class, Ind. 4)

It is useful to think of a pupil’s vocabulary as being represented by

schemata or knowledge structures that are linked to one another through
networks of varying levels of complexity and degrees of strength. The
schema representing a specific word may contain definitional information
and information on the attributes of the word (for example, an elephant is
a large animal who has thick skin, a trunk and two ivory tusks). As a
result of exposure, whether through instruction or by simply encountering
a word during reading (or listening), the pupil may (a) develop a new
schema or framework for the word; (b) elaborate on an existing schema;
(c) establish a new link or strengthen an existing link between a word’s
schema and the schemas that represent related words or ideas.

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Not all words may be equally well understood. According to one source,
word knowledge can be viewed as a ‘continuum from no knowledge to a
general sense; to narrow, context-bound knowledge; to having knowledge
but not being able to access it quickly; to rich decontextualised knowledge
of word meaning’.10 A useful distinction is that between ‘fast mapping’
and ‘extended mapping’ of a word’s meaning11. In ‘fast mapping’, the
pupil acquires a cursory understanding of a word, sometimes after just a
single encounter. In ‘extended mapping’, a more complete understanding
of the word is achieved. It may take multiple exposures to a word in a
variety of different contexts in order to achieve extended mapping, while,
at any given time, individual pupils may be working on as many as 1,600
mappings simultaneously.

An important source of information about the meanings of words is

sentence context. Indeed, the meanings of many words are acquired by
encountering them in a variety of sentence contexts with each new context
adding an additional layer of meaning. One element of the assessment of
vocabulary knowledge will examine whether pupils have the strategies
that enable them to use sentence context effectively to deduce word
meanings.

Many standardised measures of reading achievement include a measure of

vocabulary knowledge. A typical item in such measures requires pupils to
select a word that means the same as or the opposite of a target word
embedded in a short sentence. A pupil’s score on a standardised measure
of vocabulary knowledge provides a general indication of the breadth of
the pupil’s vocabulary.

Informal assessment of individual pupil’s vocabulary knowledge can be

conducted before or after the pupil reads a text. Assessment
information can be obtained by asking the pupil to engage in tasks such
as the following, and recording the resulting assessment information:

• provide a definition for a word, that is appropriate to the context in

which it appears;
• use a word in a sentence to illustrate its meaning;
• provide a synonym or antonym for a word;
• indicate the super-ordinate category to which a word belongs (Jupiter is
a planet);
• state some attributes of a word (e.g., a leopard has spots);
• compare the attributes of a word with some related word;
• discuss how a prefix contributes to a word’s meaning;
• explain what information a suffix provides about a word;
• show how a root can contribute to a word’s meaning (e.g., phobia in
electrophobia, acrophobia)
• explain how sentence context can be used to identify or check the
meaning of a word;

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 Appendix E

• identify words that make a text more interesting or effective;

• substitute words used by an author with alternative words;
• locate the meaning of a new word in a dictionary and check its meaning
in the context in which it appears.

Like vocabulary knowledge, background knowledge, or the knowledge

that pupils have about topics, text structures, themes and concepts, can
have a powerful influence on text comprehension. Although broader than
vocabulary knowledge, the background knowledge a reader brings to a
text can include an understanding of concepts and word meanings.
Reading comprehension in general, and inferential comprehension in
particular, improves when readers have an adequate level of background
knowledge about the topic of the text, and can establish links between their
background knowledge and the information in the text. Hence, assessment
of comprehension needs to address whether or not pupils’ have adequate
background knowledge to understand what they read.

Pupils’ background knowledge can be assessed by engaging them in

whole-class or group mapping activities. One such activity is semantic or
concept mapping,12 in which pupils develop a diagram that illustrates the
links between a target concept and concepts already known. By observing
pupils as they engage in semantic mapping, the teacher can make a global
judgement about the amount of background knowledge held by a group,
and how that knowledge is organised.

Where self-assessment is concerned, it may be useful to ask pupils in the

senior primary classes to rate their understanding of each word in a set of
vocabulary words, before and after reading a text. Each word can be rated
according to whether pupils ‘know a lot about it’, ‘know something about
it’ or ‘don’t know it’. Some growth might be expected between pre- and
post-reading activities.

5. Reading Comprehension — Narrative Texts

Pupils’ understanding of a text can depend on a variety of factors. These
include:

• reader-based factors — word identification, background knowledge,

knowledge of word meanings, knowledge of reading strategies, general
intellectual ability and motivation
• the nature of the comprehension task — what is expected of the reader
during and after reading
• text structure — the organisational features of the text that serve as a
frame or pattern to help readers to identify the importance, order and
relations among ideas.

The assessment of reading comprehension should recognise that

comprehension may break down because problems arise with regard to

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one or more of these factors. Comprehension is a focus of assessment at

each class level, but increases in importance from third-class onwards (i.e.,
as children move into the ‘reading to learn’ phase mentioned earlier.

Texts may be broadly divided into narrative texts, which are designed to
entertain the reader, and informational texts, which are intended to inform
and persuade (see next section). Narrative texts, which may be based on
real or fictional experiences, include myths, epics, folktales, short stories, or
novels.

Figure E-12 shows some of the indicators of comprehension of narrative

text that are assessed in the English Profiles.

Figure E-12 Selected Indicators — Comprehension of Narrative Texts

• Reads simple stories and retells significant events and details (Junior Infants,
Ind. 9)
• Modifies initial expectations (predictions) about the content of a story based on
new information in the story (Senior Infants, Ind. 10)
• Reads and retells stories and informational texts in sequence, incorporating
important ideas and relevant details (First Class, Ind. 9)
• Makes inferences about ideas and actions in stories (Second Class, Ind. 9)
• Reads a story and draws conclusions about the setting, characters, events,
outcome and theme (Third Class, Ind. 3)
• Summarises stories (and informational texts), distinguishing between main
ideas and important details (Fourth Class, Ind. 10)
• Identifies changes that occur in characters’ feelings and behaviours (actions),
and in their relationship with one another in shorter and in longer (book-
length) stories (Fifth Class, Ind. 6)
• Identifies and evaluates the themes and values in stories and poems with
reference to other texts and to own experiences (Sixth Class, Ind. 4)

Often, narrative texts include such elements as a statement of

problem/goal faced by the main character, episodes in which the main
character attempts to achieve the goal, and outcomes of these attempts.
Pupils who understand that many stories follow a particular structure, and
recognise the main elements of that structure in stories that they read will
be helped in carrying out the following comprehension processes:

• predicting outcomes
• identifying problems
• making inferences about interactions among characters and their
intentions

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• identifying links between background knowledge and events in the

text
• inferring causal relations among events
• drawing conclusions
• evaluating ideas
• identifying the sequence of events
• imaging or visualising the text
• asking self-questions during reading

Formal assessment of reading comprehension can occur in the context of

administering a standardised, norm-referenced test. A pupil’s overall score
on a standardised comprehension test can give a general indication of the
pupil’s reading comprehension level. One difficulty with such tests is that
they may not provide the detailed information about a pupil’s
understanding of narrative text that is necessary to complete the English
Profiles. A second difficulty is that they may provide relatively little
information about a pupil’s learning needs. For example, poor performance
on a standardised comprehension test can arise from difficulties in one or
more of the reader, task or text based factors mentioned at the beginning of
this section.

One informal approach to assessing comprehension of stories is to ask

comprehension questions that are designed to tap into the required
information. For example, if a teacher wishes to probe pupils’
understanding of the key structural elements in a text, questions such as
the following might be asked:

• Where/when does the story take place? (Setting)

• Who was this story mostly about? (Main character)
• What does the main character want? (Beginning Event/Problem/Goal)
• What obstacles does the main character encounter? (Attempts/Events)
• Does the main character reach his/her goal? (Resolution)
• How did the main character feel at the end? (Reaction)
• What is the writer saying to us about life in this story? (Theme)
• Why do you think the author wanted to write this story? (Theme)
• Is there any thing you would have changed in the story? (Personal
Response)
• How did the story make you feel? (Personal Response) Why?

A second informal approach to assessing understanding of stories is to ask

pupils to recall what they have read orally or in writing. Pupils’ recall
protocols can be analysed in the manner suggested in Appendix D (page
86), where a similar approach to assessing pupils’ comprehension of stories
read aloud by the teacher was suggested. Again, the distinction between
unaided and probed recall should be maintained.

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Pupils can play a role in the assessment of their own understanding of

stories by maintaining reading logs — systematic records of each story or
book read that include pupils’ personal responses. A reading log can
consist of a notebook or sheets that can be placed in a folder or portfolio.
For pupils in the junior classes, the following headings may provide a
useful structure for recording information about a book:

• date commenced
• title of book read
• author and illustrator
• pupil’s opinion of the book (I liked this book because. . . .)
• self-evaluation (This book was easy/difficult for me to read because. . . .)
• date completed

Pupils in the senior classes can use their reading logs to respond to a
book by:

• writing responses to literary components;

• identifying the plot, setting, point of view, theme, character
development, links to life;
• extending one or more parts of the book;
• developing scripts for plays, story webs, charts, time lines or written
reviews;
• comparing with another book with a similar theme or by the same
author;
• writing an extended critical response;
• recording thoughts or feeling in response to reading;
• discussing phrases or words that interested, excited or puzzled them;
• making predictions;
• summarising main events;
• creating alternative endings.

Criteria for scoring each of these elements can be devised for the
purposes of assessment. For example, the pupil’s reading log could be
assessed on the basis of:

(a) literal understanding, as measured by recall and description of

basic facts about the story
(b) interpretative understanding, as measured through the pupil’s
ability to summarise, predict, conclude, compare, or infer, on the
basis of information gleaned from the story;
(c) critical understanding, as measured by the pupil’s evaluation of
each story or book s/he has read.

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 Appendix E

6. Reading Comprehension — Informational Texts

As pupils progress through primary school, they read more and more
informational texts — texts that are designed to describe, inform or
explain. Such texts may be found in class readers, textbooks and reference
materials dealing with subjects such as history, geography, science and
social, personal and health education (SPHE). Figure E-13 illustrates the
range of indicators of comprehension of informational text that are
assessed in the English Profiles.

Figure E-13 Selected Indicators — Comprehension of Informational Texts

• Locates items of information in simple informational texts (First Class, Ind. 4)

• Describes simple differences between text types (e.g., stories, poems and
informational texts) (First Class, Ind. 2)
• Generates appropriate expectations about the content of informational texts
(Second Class, Ind. 8)
• Reads and summarises informational texts, providing several important points
(Third Class, Ind. 8)
• Identifies organisational patterns in informational texts (Fourth Class, Ind. 9)
• Compares and synthesises information about a topic, drawing from two or more
informational texts (Fifth Class, Ind. 7)
• Adjusts reading speed for specific purposes and for different texts (Fifth Class,
Ind. 5)
• Employs several strategies when reading informational texts for research
purposes (previewing, skimming, scanning, note-taking, summarising etc.)
(Sixth Class, Ind. 7)

A critical factor to consider in assessing pupils’ understanding of

informational texts is their level of background knowledge about the text.
One element of background knowledge is pupils’ understanding of the
vocabulary and ideas underlying an informational text. A second element
is pupils’ understanding of the structure underpinning the text. Figure
E-14 provides a listing of the main informational text structures, along with
their objectives and the terms that signal their use.

Group-administered standardised tests rarely provide specific information

about pupils’ comprehension of informational texts. For example, the
majority of standardised tests assess comprehension using a combination
of narrative and informational texts, but do not report separate scores for
the two text types. Furthermore, most standardised tests do not establish
links between pupils’ background knowledge and their comprehension of
informational texts. On the other hand, there is plenty of scope in the
classroom for conducting informal assessments of pupils’ understanding of
informational texts.

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Figure E-14 Main Informational Text Structures and Substructures

Text Structure Objective Signal Words

Definition/Example To elaborate on the meaning of a term; For example, such as,
illustrate through an example of typical that is, namely, to
illustrate, for instance
or outstanding illustrations

Comparison and To highlight similarities or differences Similar to, different

Contrast among entities from, in contrast,
however, but, on the
other hand,

Temporal To describe a series of connected First, second, next,

Sequence instances, each developing from the originally, finally,
before, earlier, later,
preceding one, that results in a product meanwhile etc.
or outcome
Cause/Effect To indicate a sequence of events related Therefore, as a result of,
(Problem/Solution) in a causal chain; includes the so that, in order to,
because, consequently
problem/solution pattern
Argument and A line of argument laid out so as to
Persuasion present the ideas in the most convincing
manner. The correctness of the argument
is not necessarily a criterion.

In the first instance, teachers will want to ascertain pupils’ background

knowledge about the topic of an informational text, either before reading
takes place, or after it has been completed. An important reason for
measuring the level of pupils’ background knowledge before reading
begins is to enable teachers to provide additional background knowledge to
those pupils who may need it, and hence increase the likelihood that they
will understand the text. Pre-reading assessment of background knowledge
can be accomplished by asking pupils to engage in activities such as:

• responding to questions about the topic of a text (e.g., what do you

know about elasticity?);
• rating their own understanding of topics or ideas, using an appropriate
scale (e.g., 3 — I know a lot; 2 — I know something; 1 — I don’t know
very much);
• completing a semantic or concept map either individually or as a group.

A focus on the assessment of background knowledge as a pre-reading

activity is consistent with the notion of assisting pupils to set their own
purposes for reading, based on the information they wish to find out in
reading a text. Pupils’ ability to set appropriate purposes for reading is also
an important indicator of reading development.

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 Appendix E

A second broad emphasis in the assessment of pupils’ comprehension of

informational texts will be to ascertain their understanding of the main
idea and supporting details. Pupils can be asked to

• identify main ideas and supporting details by using topic headings and
subheadings, and paragraph topics;
• infer a main idea of a paragraph or longer text when it isn’t stated;
• select a suitable title for a paragraph or longer text, and give reasons for
their selections;
• demonstrate links between main idea and supporting details using a
visual representation (diagram)

Related to the main idea and supporting details in a text is its organisation
(see Figure E-14). Pupils’ sensitivity to the organisation of informational
texts can be assessed by asking them to:

• identify key words in a text that signal particular text structures such as
comparison and contrast or temporal sequence;
• identify structures and relationships among ideas by using text
structure frames and graphic organisers that can assist pupils to
organise their summaries;13
• develop oral and written summaries that are based on texts with
familiar structures.

The evaluation of pupils’ written summaries can focus on the following:14

• Accuracy/clarity — the relative absence of misleading statements,

incomplete ideas, confusion of facts, grammatical errors causing
confusion, incorrect interpretation and incorrect ordering of information
• Main idea — the degree to which the writer focused primarily on the
main idea and placed less emphasis on the minor ideas.
• Brevity — the length of the summary, which is related to the ability to
condense material.
• Use of own words — the ability to put the ideas in the pupil’s own words,
avoiding the use of excessive quotation or plagiarism.

In addition to assessing understanding of main ideas, attention will need

to be given to assessing pupils’ study skills. Again, assessment of study
skills can proceed not only in English but in a range of other subject areas
where pupils are required to extract information from texts and use that
information in purposeful ways. One way to assess pupils’ study skills is
to use a checklist. One such checklist list divides reading-study skills into
three broad categories: (1) special study-reading comprehension skills; (2)
information locating skills; and (3) study and retention strategies (see
Figure E-15).

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Figure E-15 Study Skills Checklist

No Some Much
Study Skill Evidence Evidence Evidence

1. Specific study-reading comprehension skills

A. Ability to interpret graphic aids (e.g., maps, globes,
graphs, charts, tables, cartoons, pictures, etc.)
B. Ability to follow directions

2 Information location skills

A. Ability to vary rate of reading (e.g., can the pupil scan?
skim? Read at slow rate for difficult materials? etc.)
B. Ability to locate information by use of book parts (e.g.,
can the pupil use book parts to identify – title? author?
publisher? edition? copyright date?)
C. Ability to locate information in the library (e.g., can the
pupil locate material by subject? by author? by title?)
D. Ability to locate information in an electronic database

3. Study and retention strategies

A. Ability to study information and remember it (e.g., Can
the pupil highlight important information? Underline
important information? Ask and answer questions to
increase retention? Employ a systematic study
procedure?)
B. Ability to organise information (e.g., Can the pupil take
notes? Write a summary of a paragraph? Make graphic
aids to summarise information? Use an outline to write
a report?)

Finally, assessment of pupils’ comprehension of informational texts might

focus on their metacognitive knowledge. Metacognitive knowledge
involves knowledge of self as a learner, knowledge of task demands, and
motivation to use comprehension/study strategies. In general, pupils with
strong metagocnitive knowledge perform better on comprehension and
study tasks than pupils with weak metacognitive knowledge. Assessment
of metacognitive knowledge is typically informal and can easily be linked
to other assessment activities, such as pupils’ evaluations of their
background knowledge, or their ability to apply strategies such as setting
purposes for reading or identifying important information (main ideas and
important details). Metacognitive knowledge can be assessed by
interviewing pupils and determining whether they can:

• evaluate their own level of background knowledge about a topic, and

indicate what can be done to increase background knowledge;
• explain why one strategy would be more appropriate to use than
another;
• indicate whether a strategy had been effective or not;

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 Appendix E

• think aloud after reading a text segment and indicate their initial
understandings;
• indicate if they have re-read/returned to a problematic segment of text;
• clarify confusions or comprehension problems by asking appropriate
questions.

1
The model presented here draws on the work of Chall (1983) and Ehri (1995).
2
Ehri (1995), p. 129
3
Ehri (1995), p. 121
4
Chall (1983)
5
Chall (1983)
6
Adapted from Snow, Burns and Griffin (1998).
7
See, for example, Yopp (1995) and Ericson and Juliebö (1998).
8
Goodman (1973)
9
Clay (1993), pp. 22
10
Beck and McKeown (1991)
11
Carey (1978)
12
E.g., Heimlich and Pittelman (1986)
13
See, for example, Lewis and Wray (1997).
14
See Taylor (1986)

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