Transcript Document
Assessment-Driven
Reading Instruction
Michael C. McKenna
University of Virginia
Sharon Walpole
University of Delaware
Today’s Goals
Define the three tiers of instruction.
Explain how assessments can help
predict which tiers are necessary for a
child.
Describe best practice with respect to
managing three-tiered instruction.
Back in School . . .
Lead one grade-level meeting to explore how
three-tiered instruction can be improved.
Conference with an individual teacher at that
grade level who is experiencing difficulties in
planning and delivering tier-two instruction.
Follow-up with this teacher after a plan has
been agreed upon.
What are the three tiers?
Let’s be clear about GARF
There are several multi-tier models of
reading intervention described in the
research literature.
These are potentially confusing.
The model used in Georgia Reading
First has three tiers.
It was developed by Sharon Vaughn and
her colleagues.
What are the three tiers?
Tier 1
Whole-class core instruction
This instruction is the same for all; it
might include work in small groups,
pairs, or teams, but the work is gradelevel work
Includes core reading selections
Includes read-alouds
What are the three tiers?
Tier 2
Small-group needs-based instruction
Needs are determined by assessments
How long a child remains in a particular
group is also determined by assessments
Materials could be part of the core program
or they could be independent
Tier 2 instruction could be conducted by the
classroom teacher or by others
Tier 2 occurs during the reading block
What are the three tiers?
Tier 3
Small-group or individual needs-based instruction
Scheduled outside the block
Needs are determined by assessments
Placement in Tier 3 depends on lack of success at
Tier 2
Like Tier 2, how long a child remains in Tier 3 is also
determined by assessments
Materials could be part of the core program, but they
are more likely to be independent
Tier 3 instruction is usually not conducted by the
classroom teacher
What is assessment-driven instruction?
Assessments of three kinds are used:
Screening
Diagnostic
Progress monitoring
Group placement is based on the first two kinds.
How long to keep a child in a group is based on the third.
The Cognitive Model of Reading Assessment should
guide which assessments to give. Let’s review it!
McKenna & Stahl, 2003, Chapter 1
Isn’t the Cognitive Model
that big flowchart?
Yes, that’s the way Steve
Stahl first described it, but
there are other ways.
Let’s look at a checklist
teachers might find useful.
Three Areas Addressed by the
Cognitive Model
Word Recognition
Language Comprehension
Strategy Use
Word Recognition
Deficit Revealed by
Screening
Oral Reading
Fluency
Next Steps …
•Screen in phonics
•If there is a problem in phonics, do not
group for fluency
•Screen for sight vocabulary
•If there is a problem with sight
vocabulary, do not group for fluency
•If phonics and sight vocabulary are
adequate, provide needs-based fluency
instruction.
Walpole & McKenna, 2007
Word Recognition, continued
Deficit Revealed by
Screening
Next Steps …
Sight Vocabulary
• Screen in phonics
• Plan needs-based sight word instruction
based on words inventoried
Phonics
• Screen in phonological awareness
• If there is a problem in phonological
awareness, do not group for phonics.
• Give phonics inventory to determine
specific deficits
• Provide targeted phonics instruction
Phonological
Awareness
• Give a phonological awareness
inventory
• Use the inventory to determine level of
awareness
• Provide instruction designed to bring
student to next level.
Language Comprehension
Deficit Revealed by
Screening
Next Steps …
Vocabulary
• Identify useful, unfamiliar words in a
read-aloud or core selection.
• Provide instruction in these words, using
the selection for context.
• Consider serving vocabulary and
knowledge problems in the same group.
Background
Knowledge
• Conduct prereading questioning to
determine gaps in prior knowledge.
• Provide prereading instruction to fill
those gaps.
• Consider serving vocabulary and
knowledge problems in the same group.
Text Structures
• Conduct prereading questioning to
determine knowledge of text structure.
• Provide instruction in the organizational
pattern / genre if needed.
Strategy Use
Deficit Revealed by
Screening
Next Steps …
Comprehension
Strategies
• Screen in the goal of reading
• If there is a problem with concepts of
print, begin by addressing that problem.
• If the child realizes the goal of reading,
assess strategies diagnostically, one by one.
• Provide instruction in strategies where
proficiency is limited.
Goal of Reading
• Screen for concepts of print.
• If there is a problem with concepts of
print, begin by addressing that problem.
• If concepts of print are firm, provide
instruction in the goal of reading.
Concepts of Print
• Conduct diagnostic assessment using
inventory of print concepts.
• Provide instruction in how print functions.
Defining Best Practice
Multi-tiered instruction has proved effective in K-3 contexts.
Teachers must recognize that initial group placements can be wrong
(the result of “false positives”).
Teachers must commit to changing Tier 2 groupings or ending Tier 3
placements as soon as progress-monitoring assessment indicates that
it’s no longer needed.
Using others (e.g., special educators, paraprofessionals) to help with
Tier 2 instruction requires coordinated scheduling across classrooms
and possibly across grades.
Scheduling Tier 3 instruction requires coordination on a broader level,
possibly involving specials, lunch, etc.
Tier 3 interventions in kindergarten and grade one are probably illadvised during the fall; consider first evaluating the effectiveness of
Tier 2
Some GARF assumptions . . .
• Core instruction will not be sufficient for all
students – particularly those who struggle.
• Providing instruction at Tiers 2 and 3 is an
expectation of GARF.
• Because of the nature of Reading First, most
differentiated instruction will concern word
recognition.
• Some differentiated instruction, however, will
address comprehension strategies.
Coaches’ Corner
How well are teachers implementing Tier
2 instruction in your school?
How well is your plan for Tier 3 instruction
working in your school?
What are some of the pitfalls and
problems you’ve encountered?
What successes can you share?
How can I put these ideas
together to gain a better
understanding of assessmentdriven instruction?
Let’s read an article that
attempts to do just that.
McKenna, M. C., & Walpole, S. (2005). How well
does assessment inform our reading instruction?
The Reading Teacher, 59, 84-86.
Read this article. It provides an
explanation of assessmentdriven instruction as it is applied
in Georgia Reading First schools.
What have we learned?
What are some ways in which Ms.
Henderson’s instruction is not assessment
driven?
In the article, the general model is not specific
to Reading First. What would you need to add
to align it?
Here it is again …
Let’s Plan . . .
Think about how to organize a grade-level meeting
about assessment-driven instruction. You’ll need to
examine grade-level and classroom-level DIBELS
data. You’ll also need to examine or propose
additional data collection.
Think of a teacher who needs your help in planning
and carrying out needs-based instruction.
Think of how you might conduct a conference with
that teacher to begin moving toward that goal.
Back at School . . .
Review your DIBELS summaries for your target grade
level and classrooms.
Plan and schedule the grade-level meeting.
Conduct the meeting, making notes about teacher input.
Schedule a conference with the teacher you identified.
Decide beforehand on strategies you will suggest.
During the conference, use data to support your
suggestions.
Try to get a commitment from the teacher to implement
the differentiation strategy.
Follow up to judge the success of the implementation.
References
McKenna, M. C., & Stahl, S. A. (2003). Assessment for reading
instruction. New York: Guilford Press.
McKenna, M. C., & Walpole, S. (2005). How well does assessment inform
our reading instruction? The Reading Teacher, 59, 84-86.
National Center for Reading First Technical Assistance. (2005). Promoting
assessment-driven reading instruction. In An introductory guide for
Reading First coaches (Chapter 5). Washington, DC: USDOE.
Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts at The University of
Texas at Austin. (2005). Introduction to the 3-Tier Reading Model:
Reducing reading difficulties for kindergarten through third grade
students (4th ed.). Austin, TX: Author.
Walpole, S., & McKenna, M. C. (2007). Differentiated reading instruction:
Strategies for the primary grades. New York: Guilford Press.