LikeToRead.com

Assessment

As I assess children using reading strategies, my tests look different.

When I first started teaching, I modeled my testing after that of my teachers. I still remember plowing through Romeo and Juliet and trying my best to understand it. And what was the question I remember from my 11th-grade test? What kind of clouds appeared on page 12?

Even so, for the first 10 years of my career, I filled my filing cabinet with manila folders that housed lesson plans and tests for the books I taught like Bridge to Terabithia, Tuck Everlasting, Top Secret, and The Whipping Boy. I wrote 10 questions for each chapter and tested 5 or more vocabulary words as well. Why 10? Why 5? I should have known better just from personal experience.

Well, my filing cabinet is still filled with manila folders BUT, it is organized by reading strategy. Lessons for teaching fix-up strategies, making connections, asking questions and visualizing, for example, are just a few of the samples I have.

And, instead of asking who is the main character, I am more inclined to ask who is the most important character and how do you know. The second question seems like a small change, but it is a paradigm shift. It shows children that I value how they arrive at their conclusions and whether they can cite evidence to support their theories.

Ready for the 21st Century?

After taking an online course with Ellin Keene, I realized I had to grade what I valued: reading, reflection, self-assessment, and using reading strategies. I moved from content and product assessment to process assessment. In other words, I now test and confer to assess how children think. I collect data so that I know what I need to teach or re-teach. Together, the student and I set literacy goals.

Another important difference is that I give the students the question when we start reading the book. Then as they read, they collect evidence in their daybooks. In addition, they track their thinking on sticky notes they leave in the book. By asking these kinds of questions, they have time to give them careful thought and I have a clearer view of whether my students are comprehending.

I also assess to find out if my students can match a reading strategy to a reading problem. Not all strategies work in all situations, so can the students be flexible? Do they have a repertoire of strategies from which to choose? Do they know how to apply those strategies to different reading challenges? I know because I ask those kinds of questions on my tests and in my conferences.

Reading Inquiry

As I work with teachers, I find the how-to-assess question gives teachers the most difficulty. I think that's because assessing THINKING is messy. It might help to think of reading instruction as inquiry-based reading; instead of telling my students what I want them to know, we discover what we need to know as we uncover reading problems and look for solutions. Someone raises a question about how best to solve a reading problem, we study strategies in depth, and then students EXPLAIN how they've synthesized the information to make it work for them in the future. I can grade that.

By listening to and talking with my students and sitting in reading groups where we puzzle out what to do, I know my children better than ever. I watch children figure out as much as they can by themselves after I provide structured lessons, modeling and feedback. Then, I can explain to parents (and to each child) how each child reads. I involve children in the process of setting goals for themselves and working on the goals I set for them. Then, I know each child's strengths and weaknesses.

It is a beginning. While I certainly have come a long way in my understanding of literal assessment vs. application assessment, it took a long time to understand that I needed to teach and test comprehension, not remembering! Did I want students to name the clouds on page 12 or know how to figure out an unfamiliar word? Of the two, I understand now that teaching children to recognize their thinking, solve problems and take risks are the life skills students will need.

Assessment Help

I share samples on my test page. In addition, you will find samples and directions for using:

1. daybooks or writing notebooks
2. anecdotal records
3. exit sheets
4. star charts
5. tests

Besides what I offer on these pages, I find the appendix of Mosaic of Thought helpful for rethinking assessment as well. Ellin Keene has a new book, Assessing Comprehension Thinking Strategies (Shell Education, 2007), that contains 4 passages and rubric per grade level for assessing growth.