Excerpt from

Foundations and Applications of Differentiated Instruction Comprehension, Just Read, Florida.

4 Types of Assessment and Appropriate Uses An effective and comprehensive reading program includes the following four types of assessments to accomplish four purposes: Screening Brief assessments that provide a first picture of the students preparation for grade-level reading instruction; they help identify the students who will need extra help in order to make adequate progress in reading during the year. Screening measures are conducted at the beginning of the school year with all students to identify those likely to need extra or alternative forms of instruction. Screening assessments are not enough! Early identification of students who are having problems in reading needs to be followed by instructional interventions in order for students to achieve grade-level reading outcomes. Examples may include: o Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) o Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM), grades 2-12 o FCAT Progress monitoring assessments that determine if students are making adequate progress or need more intervention to achieve grade level reading outcomes. These assessments are conducted a minimum of three times a year or on a routine basis (e.g., weekly, monthly, or quarterly) using comparable and multiple test forms to (a) estimate rates of reading improvement, (b) identify students who are not demonstrating adequate progress and therefore require additional or different forms of instruction, and/or (c) compare the efficacy of different forms of instruction for low progress readers and thereby design more effective, individualized instructional programs for those at-risk learners. Progress monitoring assessment data help identify when and which students begin to get off the reading grade level track, and when we need to make necessary modifications to instruction or provide additional instructional intervention to keep them at grade level reading outcomes. Examples, may include: o Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) o Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM), grades 2-12 o Diagnostic Instrument of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) K-3

Diagnostic assessments that help teachers plan instruction by providing in-depth information about students strengths and needs. Diagnostic measures are conducted at any time during the school year when more in-depth analysis of a students strengths and needs is needed to guide instruction. Diagnostic assessment data will tell us: o What important beginning reading skill students have mastered or not mastered? o On which skills they need additional instructional intervention? o How much instructional intervention are the students going to need (e.g., small group, additional modeling, extra practice time). o Which students have similar instructional needs and can form an appropriate group for instruction? Examples may include: o Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test (SDRT) o Diagnostic Assessment of Reading (DAR) Outcome assessments that provide a bottom-line evaluation of the effectiveness of the reading program. Outcome assessment data tell us where we are, where we want to be, and what path to follow to reach our goal. Examples may include: o Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test of Reading (FCAT) grades 310 o Stanford 9, grades 3-10 (pages ECI S10 -6-7) Read more at http://flare.ucf.edu/REESOL/Foundations%20and%20Applications%20of%20Differentia ted%20Instruction/REESOL%20-%20FADI%20-%20Comprehension/REESOL%20%20FADI%20-%20Comprehension%20-%20Handouts.pdf