ASSESSMENTS TO GUIDE ADOLESCENT LITERACY …

[Pages:112]ASSESSMENTS TO GUIDE ADOLESCENT LITERACY INSTRUCTION

ASSESSMENTS TO GUIDE ADOLESCENT LITERACY INSTRUCTION

Joseph K. Torgesen Debra Houston Miller Florida Center for Reading Research Florida State University 2009

This publication was created for the Center on Instruction by the Florida Center for Reading Research at Florida State University. The Center on Instruction is operated by RMC Research Corporation in partnership with the Florida Center for Reading Research at Florida State University; Instructional Research Group; the Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics at the University of Houston; and the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at The University of Texas at Austin.

The contents of this document were developed under cooperative agreement S283B050034 with the U.S. Department of Education. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

Editorial, design, and production services provided by RMC Research Corporation.

Citation: Torgesen, J. K., & Miller, D. H. (2009). Assessments to guide adolescent literacy instruction. Portsmouth, NH: RMC Research Corporation, Center on Instruction.

Extended quotations from Formative Classroom Assessment are reprinted by permission of the publisher. From James H. McMillan, Editor, Formative Classroom Assessment: Theory into Practice, New York: Teachers College Press ? 2007 by Teachers College, Columbia University. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from "Can Diagnostic Reading Assessment Enhance General Educators' Instructional Differentiation and Student Learning?" (p. 329) by L. Fuchs and D. Fuchs in Preventing and Remediating Reading Difficulties: Bringing Science to Scale, B. R. Foorman, Ed. (2003). Austin, TX: PRO-ED. Copyright 2003 by PRO-ED, Inc.

To download a copy of this document, visit .

CONTENTS

1 OVERVIEW

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

5 PART I--USING ASSESSMENT TO IMPROVE LITERACY INSTRUCTION FOR ADOLESCENTS

5 INTRODUCTION 7 Adolescent academic literacy 9 Data-based decision making

11 A COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM FOR ADOLESCENT LITERACY 11 Goals for adolescent literacy instruction 11 The role of reading assessments in meeting these goals 13 Literacy assessments in a comprehensive assessment plan

18 FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS TO GUIDE INSTRUCTION IN ADOLESCENT LITERACY 19 Current definitions of formative assessment 21 Examples of classroom-based formative assessment 24 Further examples from high-achieving secondary schools 28 Evidence for the impact of classroom-based formative assessments on student achievement 29 Two caveats 31 Six characteristics of high-quality classroom-based formative assessment 38 Curriculum-based measurement (CBM): A special case of classroom-based formative assessment 42 Summary and conclusions about classroom-based formative assessment 43 The role of standards-based benchmark assessments in improving student literacy outcomes 48 The role of screening and diagnostic assessments in a comprehensive assessment plan 53 Summary and review: Assessment types required in a comprehensive assessment plan

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57 CHALLENGES TO THE SUCCESSFUL USE OF ASSESSMENT FOR INSTRUCTION WITH ADOLESCENTS 57 Challenge #1: Fundamental changes in attitudes and instructional practices 61 Challenge #2: Tension between types of formative assessments useful to administrators and types useful to teachers and students 63 Challenge #3: Lack of teacher "buy in" and divergence of educators' attitudes and beliefs about indicators of student success

65 CONCLUDING COMMENTS 67 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER READING 68 REFERENCES 75 PART II--TEN EXAMPLES OF ASSESSMENTS, OR ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS,

IN CURRENT USE OR UNDER DEVELOPMENT TO GUIDE INSTRUCTION IN ADOLESCENT LITERACY

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OVERVIEW

This document was prepared to assist literacy specialists and other technical assistance providers in their work with states to improve educational policy and practice in adolescent literacy. It is a companion volume to two other Center on Instruction publications that offer guidance in improving literacy outcomes in adolescents--Academic Literacy Instruction for Adolescents: A Guidance Document from the Center on Instruction (Torgesen, Houston, Rissman, et al., 2007) and Improving Literacy Instruction in Middle and High Schools: A Guide for Principals (Torgesen, Houston, Rissman, 2007). Both may be downloaded at .

As in the two other documents, adolescent literacy is defined here as covering the range of students from grades four through twelve. The present document has two major parts:

Part I--Using assessment to improve instruction in literacy for adolescents

Part I describes the key elements of a comprehensive assessment plan to improve literacy instruction for adolescents. It details the purposes of assessment and identifies the major types of assessments that can be used to meet each purpose. The focus is on formative assessments, whose purpose is to guide instruction for individual students or groups of students. The information in this part of the document is based on research about the nature of adolescent literacy as well as research on the utility of various types of assessments for learning.

Part II ? Ten examples of assessments, or assessment systems, in current use or under development to guide instruction in adolescent literacy

Part II contains short summaries of approaches to assessment for instruction in adolescent literacy currently in use or under development in the United States. These examples come from individual schools, from state-level systems, and from both commercial companies and nonprofit organizations. They are meant

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to convey the wide variety of approaches in addressing some of the challenges in adolescent literacy assessment identified in Part I. They are not meant as endorsements of either the procedures themselves or of the companies or organizations using them. In fact, the companies, organizations, or schools associated with the examples are purposely not identified by name. Although the examples are real, they are identified here only by number. They were selected through an Internet search and by polling experts in adolescent literacy around the country. We also made inquiries to a number of organizations not included here but were unable to obtain sufficient information to summarize their procedures. The list is obviously not exhaustive, and there may be other, even better, examples that we were not able to locate.

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