ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: Reading Performance Assessment

Note: The information contained in this reference is useful when you do a reading assessment with a specific passage. You should be able to comment on all 6 aspects listed below.

Student __________________ Grade _______ Teacher ________________

Clinician _______________________________________

Task/s being monitored: _______________________________________

Name of text(s) for reading or identify material being used.

A. Start performance assessment with COMPREHENSION items as they apply to BEFORE reading:

• What background information did the student bring to this task? Did the student have the specific vocabulary and concepts to understand the text? Did the student know to activate what information he/she does have about the topic before reading orally or silently for good comprehension?
• Did the student use strategies to plan, monitor, and manage comprehension BEFORE reading? Did the student anticipate vocabulary that will be in the text before reading? Did the student do a quick check to determine if he/she has enough vocabulary and background knowledge to read the text for good comprehension (i.e. self-assessment and anticipate the task demand)? Did he/she predict what would be in the text, set a purpose, and/or ask questions?

B. Sample ACCURACY for automatic word recognition.

• Estimate whether or not the text is "workable"? Using a quick "word search" strategy, was it your feeling that the student could read the text with, at least, 90% accuracy? ____________ Did you teach any new words prior to oral reading? If so, which words:
• Did the student have a sufficient "sight word pool"? Begin oral reading for 1 - 3 minutes, circle the level at which the student was functioning: independent, instructional, or frustrational? _____% accuracy? List words that were challenges (hesitant or unknown):

C. Sample ACCURACY for systematic word recognition.

• Did the student apply efficient word study strategies? During oral reading obtain a "snapshot" of the student's reading performance for error analysis. Was the student using context (semantic/syntactic) clues? ____________________Was the student searching for meaning?___________________

Comment on error analysis:

D. Measure FLUENCY and determine oral reading efficiency:

• How efficiently did the student read orally? _____ wpm? Did he/she "sound good," use expression, are fluent enough to be enjoying him/herself? Was the student confident?

E. Measure FLUENCY and determine silent reading efficiency:

• How efficiently did the student read silently? _____wpm? Did he/she modify silent reading according to purpose and need? Did he/she have a silent reading rate that allowed for efficient "chunking" of ideas and flow of information? Is the student flexible: varies rate according to purpose and improve comprehension?

F. Dialogue about COMPREHENSION items as they apply to DURING and POST stages of reading:

• Did the student use strategies to plan, monitor, and manage comprehension
• DURING reading? Does the student stop and go back to re-read or otherwise "fix" a problem if he/she is not comprehending text? Does the student have a strategy for approach new vocabulary words in passage reading? Does the student interact with the text by questioning? predicting? verifying?
• What did the student remember from the reading passage? Could the student retrieve ideas from the text? Did the student need prompts (aided recall) from you to retrieve ideas? Could the student "retell" or respond to the story or content? Could the student be accountable for what he/she had read?
• After reading? Did the student determine if his/her purpose for reading was achieved? Was the student able to clarify any confusing messages? Was the aware that comprehension can be improved by varying different strategies?