I completed the Reading Assessment Assignment for RE 3030-351 under the advisement of Kathy Oliver in the spring of 2008 as a Block I requirement. The assessment included an analysis of students’ orthographic word knowledge using the Qualitative Inventory of Word Knowledge (Schlagal, 2003). The assessment was administered to nine students in a 2nd grade classroom. I scored the assessment, interpreted instructional spelling levels for the students based on the scores, and projected instructional implications based on the data.
Impact:
This assessment is a helpful clinical tool that provides teachers with accurate and useful information about students' reading abilities. The qualitative Inventory of Word Knowledge provides teachers with a window into students’ conceptual understandings of English orthography. Not only does the assessment provide data that can be used to target instruction in word study (spelling), but the data also provide information about reading ability. Studies have shown a high correlation between students’ knowledge of English orthography (as revealed in the assessment) and their ability to read texts in English. Students who perform well on the Qualitative Inventory of Word Knowledge usually perform well on other reading assessments, and students who do not perform well on one will tend not to perform well on the other. Essentially the Qualitative Inventory of Word Knowledge data indicate instructional levels for both word study and reading. Teachers can use the data to help them select appropriate texts for their students to read.
Alignment:
The Reading Assessment Assignment aligns with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction standard 1, indicator 1; data from the Qualitative Inventory of Word Knowledge indicate developmental stages of language acquisition. This assessment also aligns with standard 1, indicator 4 by providing data about elementary school children’s linguistic and cognitive knowledge that will influence their ability to learn new information. Standard 1, indicator 8 also is addressed by the assessment assignment. This indicator is met through teachers using their knowledge of the symbolic system of children's invented spelling (Qualitative Inventory of Word Knowledge) to interpret assessment data. They interpret how the data from the assessment reveal students’ awareness of the phonemic, morphemic, and morphophonemic systems of language and how these impact reading and writing.
The Reading Assessment Assignment also aligns with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction standard 7, indicator 3: Assessment data is used to target and promote student learning. Additionally, data from the Qualitative Inventory of Word Knowledge are used to modify instruction to better meet the needs of individual students (standard 7, indicator 6). This is accomplished when teachers select appropriate materials and instruction to match students’ developmental levels in reading ability. Standard 7, indicator 7 is met by teachers using this assessment tool as an integral part of teaching, to gather information about what students know before designing and delivering instruction with an eye toward providing instruction that matches a students' zone of proximal development.
This assessment aligns with standard 8, indicator 1 because the assessment instrument measures aspects of the reading process (letter/sound relationships as well as meaning related elements, such as vocabulary) that represent a balanced perspective on reading assessment and reading instruction. The assessment is a valuable tool used in a balanced program. In the written summary of the reading assessments, teachers model standard English (standard 8, indicator 6).
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