Standard 6: Assessment
Artifact: Running Records
Course: ED 291 – Developing Lang and Literacy
The Running Records assignment from Developing Lang and Literacy class at Leeward Community College provides evidence that I have completed the HTSB Standard 6: Assessment. For this assignment, I volunteered for ten hours in an elementary school and performed the running records assessment on a student. The point of the running records assessment is to determine students’ level of proficiency with literacy materials. This is done by checking if students self-corrected themselves, and if they can recognize and gather meaning from the text, not just decode it.
In addition to assessing a student, I researched the school from which I was volunteering,
Differentiated instruction caters to differences among students, how students learn, different learning styles, and the interest of each learner. Running records support differentiating lessons for each learner during guided reading. Running records are diagnostic tools designed to identify a student’s reading deficiencies and monitor progress. The implementation of running records allows the teacher to differentiate each child’s reading lesson and hone in on the child’s needs and abilities. It is the educator’s responsibility to fine-tune instructional needs so that classroom, small group, and one-to-one teaching occur when and for whom they are needed in a timely way and with the high quality every child deserves (Fountas & Pinnell, 2009). Each child enters a classroom with varying needs; differentiating guided reading lessons based on the results of running records will help meet the individual needs of each child. Kelly M. Anderson (2007) states, teachers who differentiate believe each child is unique, with differing learning styles and preferences. Teachers can differentiate based on students’ readiness by varying the level of difficulty of the material covered in class. Guided reading offers the opportunity to vary the children’s reading based on their reading level. Differentiating instruction is not lowering expectations for some students. Differentiating instruction is establishing high expectations for all students while varying the process to which each child learns the same concept. Differentiating involves addressing the individual needs of diverse learners. Watts-Taffe, et al. (2012) notes although differentiating instruction is not new; it has become increasingly i...
Performing Running Records is an effective way for teachers to monitor the progress student have made in reading and writing. They also analyze the students reading fluency, which is important for comprehension. More specifically, Running Records allow teachers to identify the strengths and weakness students have in reading and writing. Finding their strengths and weaknesses will aid the teacher to identify which literacy components to develop. Running Records also give students insight about what skills they have to develop to become effective and independent readers and writers. According to Tompkins (2009), running records are classroom assessment tools of “students’ oral reading to analyze their ability to solve reading problems” (p.33). Running Records, asses the students’ oral reading and their ability to decode unfamiliar words, use reading strategies,
Dillon, Naomi. “LANGUAGE TEST. (cover story).” American School Board Journal 192.8 (2005): 10. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Feb. 2001.
Assessments should guide instruction and material selection. Any likely manner, assessments should measure student progress, as well as help, identify deficiencies in reading (Afflerback, 2012). One important indicator of reading deficiencies is spelling. Morris (2014), advocated the importance of administering a spelling assessment in order to have a better understanding of a student’s reading abilities. My school uses the Words Their Way spelling inventory to assess students’ reading abilities at the beginning of the year and throughout the reading year.
The running record assignment provided me with insight on how to effectively assess a student, analyzing and interpret data and consider strategies to address areas of need and/or strengths. The process of giving this assessment has allowed me to better understand and appreciate running records. I understand the value of using an assessment that evaluates a student’s reading ability. The data is vital information that influences instruction and planning.
The program was doing well to improve student literacy, until there became a problem with the fluency monitoring. The teachers would administer the prompts to the children in three different levels. They would collect their data on the students by recording the number of words read correctly per minute. The scores seemed to improve at all levels in the first through fourth grade and at the first and second level of fifth grade during the first year. But, at the third level of the fifth graders the scores took a huge drop. The scores continued to drop the following year at the same level as well. The teachers reported their problem and the passage at the fifth grade level was more difficult than the passage of the sixth grade level. When the passage was later analyzed, it was placed at the 9th and 10th grade level. The committee examined all the prompts and assessed the readability levels of all the passages. They chose two prompts for each grade level and devised a protocol whereby the teachers will use the same prompts at each of three points during the year. The teachers will give the difficult prompt first and if the student scores in the 50th percentile, the student will not require any further testing. The student’s success with a reading will depend on the difficulty of the text and the students background knowledge and own interests.
To gather candidates to examine Philip Zimbardo posts an ad in the newspaper looking for young college students to volunteer and be paid fifteen dollars per hour to participate in a one to two-week psychological study on
I have participated in various community service projects; for example one in which as a class
A running record is described as “a tool that helps teachers to identify patterns in student reading behaviors. These patterns allow a teacher to see the strategies a student uses to make meaning of individual words and texts as a whole.” Running records are appropriate to use when a teacher is trying to focus on s specific learning area. Running records focus on one child. Running records are serve almost the same purpose as anecdotal records! There are always pros and cons to every type of observation or recording. Some advantages to running records are that they most useful on giving a naturalistic view of a short time in a child’s life. Some advantages to using running records are that the information is written down AT THE TIME that the
It is designed to evaluate the listening, reading, writing, speaking, and comprehension skills of English language learners. It is listed in the English and Language category and exam items includes: test booklet, directions for administering, screening test, screening test directions, response booklet, practice-test, practice test directions, cassette tapes, machine-score able test packs, speaking booklets, response keys, speaking/writing training manual with DVD, pre-test and post-test online training, and technical report manuals.
Under the RMA assessment strategy, readers use a number of cueing systems including semantic (meaning), syntactic (grammar) and grapho-phonic (sound/symbol), collaboratively to construct meaning as they transact with text (Theurer, 2011). There are many benefits of using the RMA assessment strategy, however the main drawbacks of this strategy are that it can be time consuming and it does not give a complete picture of the student’s literacy skills and strategies and it can give misleading information when used with English language learners.
Kim, in the United States, grades are not the only factor in evaluating school applicants and job candidates. From Rhodes Scholar selections to college applications, excellence in other areas such as leadership, volunteer activities, sports and arts is equally important (p82-90). In American schools, students are encouraged to do volunteer work. So much so that many schools have guidelines for how much time students are expected to spend serving in the community. Children learn the value of giving from an early age. Volunteer activities is one way Americans feel a part of things and share the goal of serving and contributing to build their communities. From neighborhood watch programs to environmental issues, Americans do not wait for the government to initiate action: they take action to bring about the changes they desire. Therefore, Americans view volunteer work as a way to teach children and young adults values such as cooperation and teamwork, dedication and work ethics, equality and social justice, leadership, generosity and compassion for
"Pearson - Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, 8/E - Laurence Behrens & Leonard J. Rosen." Pearsonhighered.com, 2013. Web. 8 Dec 2013. .
Volunteering has given me insight into the students who have trouble in their studies and need help.
Reading accurately and fluently is a very important skill that students should master. According to Common Core Stat Standers CCSS, one of the third grade standards in reading is that students should read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. To fully understand this standard, we should break it down by thinking about the following questions: First, what does sufficient accuracy mean? Second, what does sufficient fluency mean? Third, how accuracy and fluency should be measured? These questions will be answered through defining and explain this standard, its significance, historicizing discourses around it, and how its ethical and ontological aspects have shaped its application in today schools.