This semester I am enrolled in an ESOL class that is focused on assessment. It has really forced me to think about assessment in my classroom and the effectiveness of it. Since these two chapters were paired together I decided to read both of them. What I noticed in chapter 6 was a re-iteration of the importance of independent reading. We must provide opportunities for our students to read independently daily. This is essential. We also need to make sure they understand how to choose just right books so that their reading is as meaningful as possible. I appreciated this chapter, but I ultimately found the most helpful and challenging information in chapter 7.
I have always felt that assessing reading was not one of my strengths as a teacher. I listen to my children read often and try to always know what books they are reading. This informal assessment is very informative but does not provide me with a quantifiable grade. This year I began using a conferencing form that allows me to check skills that are observed or missing. The form has space for at least 9 conferences so I can easily compare. However, I loved Routman's discussion of the way she conducts informal reading conferences. I plan to develop a form similar to hers so that I can incorporate it into my conferences. Perhaps I could conduct at least one more "in depth" conference with each of my students every month. I also LOVED the reading rubric that was presented at the end of the chapter. By using this rubric the students could evaluate themselves and it provides me with a way to determine a numerical grade. I have also struggled with the place of running records in my classroom. I am not sure how to use them with my 4th grade students because I do not believe they are the best use of classroom time for the majority of my students. Maybe I just don't know enough about them. This is something I would like to learn more about-especially when it comes to their use in the upper elementary grades!
A lot of my formal reading assessment is an assessment of skills taught during mini lessons throughout a reading unit. For example, when discussing the importance of making inferences while reading the students had to complete an inferencing test at the end of the unit. This demonstrated their understanding of inferences. These formal assessments cannot be the only form of assessment that teachers use. We must incorporate informal assessments as well-so we can make sure we know what our students are reading as well as their strengths and weaknesses as readers.
You raise a lot of good points and questions in this post, Keri! I think assessing readers is still a mystery in the grander scheme of life. There's that conflict between assessing readers (to know what they are doing and to know what to teach them next) and grading readers. You asked about the role of running records/miscue analysis with upper elementary readers. Running records/miscue analysis really helps us to know what makes readers tick--how they are problem solving and getting "unstuck." So, you're absolutely right--doing frequent running records/miscue analyses with your high-flying readers is not an efficient use of time. Using them periodically with your readers that are puzzles to you is a great use of time. There's also something called Retrospective Miscue Analysis (RMA)--this would be great with your upper-elementary readers too because it engages them in the same reflective process you'd be doing as their teacher.
ReplyDeleteThis is the biggest area I feel that we need to grow in as teachers in our district. Many times there is a disconnect between what we grade and what we are teaching and I am striving for opportunities where our instruction matches our assessments and also matches our beliefs about what our students need and benefit from.
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