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The APL (Module 1), previously submitted for examination, includes a contribution to the Scottish educational psychologists’ professional development programme, illustrating how particular instructional practices and approaches support the aims and objectives of the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence, by analysing how they exemplify models of learning compatible with the CfE philosophy. It also includes the evaluation of a comprehensive literacy programme and a number of evaluation studies of early literacy initiatives the author undertook within the local authority. Module 2, the literature review, explores and extends my understanding of early literacy development, and studies various influences and core skills underpinning it. I also discuss some models of reading development, with a particular focus on the development of early reading. I discuss how these relate to instructional and intervention practices, especially in relation to pupils with weak early skills. The main research focus of Modules 3 and 4 is an evaluation of the use and usefulness of developmentally based screening tools for early reading I had developed, the degree to which they help identify children with poor skills, and the degree to which and conditions within which they support the development of these skills. By using a retrospective approach to gathering test data and investigating test use I identified a number of implementation factors which it is important to identify in order to understand how to promote and embed consistent practice across schools within real-world settings. The limitations I discovered in the mixed results from test use alone and my subsequent exploration of whole school factors led me to a deeper understanding about the many influences and factors that come together to develop literacy in children. The conceptual model and assessment/planning tool I developed in Module 5 thus aims to bring these broader elements within an ecological framework that could be useful for assessment and planning for practitioners. Results of the small feedback study in this module suggest this model and assessment/planning framework would be welcomed by educational practitioners working not only with pupils with ASN, but with a broad range of pupils.

This case study, conducted during the 2014-2015 school year, examined the reading comprehension instruction and assessment practices at an elementary school implementing the Response to Intervention (RtI) framework. Observed assessment practices were compared to what the International Literacy Association (ILA) deems appropriate assessment standards for literacy achievement. 3 educators from an elementary school (~ 750 students) participated in this case study. The participants included females of various backgrounds; a school administrator, lead teacher, and fourth grade classroom teacher. 3 research questions guided this case study: (1) What does reading comprehension assessment look like in a school implementing RtI?; (2) What is the relationship between reading comprehension instruction and assessment in a school implementing RtI?; (3) In what ways are reading comprehension assessment practices in a school implementing RtI consistent or inconsistent with ILA assessment guidelines that focus on multiple dimensions of literacy, new literacies and using assessment to improve teaching and learning? Initial and follow-up interviews were conducted as well as observations, and artifacts were examined in relation to reading comprehension instruction, assessment, and RtI. Data were analyzed at 2 levels – the school and classroom. From this analysis 4 themes were identified regarding the nature of assessments: (a) Administrators valued and required teachers to use multiple summative assessments to track students’ progression and make decisions regarding students’ remediation; (b) Teachers’ reading instruction decisions were heavily influenced by district, state, and national education mandates; (c) Teachers used formative assessment data to inform reading instruction, but questioned its validity and the quality of their instruction when results contradicted summative assessment data; and (d) The school’s assessment practices were not reflective of the International Literacy Association’s Assessment Standards. Results also included the role of the federal initiative Response to Intervention (RtI) and its impact on assessment practices. The findings of the study suggest implications for school and district administrators, classroom teachers, and teacher educators.

This measurement study examined the construct validity of the retell component of the Texas Middle School Fluency Assessment (Texas Education Agency, University of Houston, & The University of Texas System, 2008a) within a confirmatory factor analysis framework. The role of retell, provided after a one-minute oral reading fluency measure, was investigated by comparing the fit of a three-factor model of reading competence to the data collected on a diverse sample of seventh- and eighth-grade students (N=394). The final model demonstrated adequate to mediocre fit (χ2 = 97.316 {32}; CFI = 0.958; TLI = 0.941; RMSEA = .081). Results suggest that retell was a significant contributor to comprehension (Δχ2=16.652{1}, p < .001), fluency (Δχ2=10.882{1}, p = .001), and word identification (Δχ2=7.84{1}, p = .005). However, the χ2 difference was greater for comprehension, as was the factor loading for comprehension (.250, p < .001) compared to fluency (.194, p < .001) and word identification .167, p < .001). Retell did, however, have a large residual variance (.938), suggesting it did not function well as a measure of comprehension in its current state with low inter-rater reliability (K = .37). Narrative retell scores (.352, p< .001) were better predictors of comprehension than expository retell scores (from .2221 to .264, p < .001) or the combination of all three scores (Δχ2=134.261{19}; p < .001), but average retell scores produced a more parsimonious model than narrative retell scores alone (ΔAIC = 58.275; ΔBIC = 58.275). Average retell was only weakly correlated to other measures of comprehension (from r = .155 to r = .257, p < .01). However, the relationship was stronger than the relationship between retell and other measures of fluency (from r = .158 to r = .183, p < .01) or word identification (r = .132, p < .05). In addition, retell did not demonstrate differential item functioning when student characteristics (e.g., primary language, socioeconomic status, ability level) were entered as covariates, even though there were overall latent differences. / text

The purpose of this study was to explore ESL teachers’ perceptions and use of classroom-based reading assessments. The research questions underpinning this study were: 1) What types of classroom-based reading assessments are used in ESL classrooms and how are they used? 2) What are ESL teachers’ perceptions regarding the function and effectiveness of classroom-based reading assessments? 3) What and how do external factors influence ESL teachers’ use of classroom-based reading assessments? 4) What and how do internal factors influence ESL teachers’ use of classroom-based reading assessments? The participants of this study were six middle school ESL teachers and seven elementary school ESL teachers. Data consisted of interviews with the participating ESL teachers, classroom observations, and assessment materials. The finding of this study indicated that there were three kinds of classroombased reading assessments commonly used by ESL teachers in the classrooms: tests, observation, and using writing to assess reading. These classroom-based reading assessments served ESL teachers in two ways: helping teachers make decisions about individual students and helping teachers make decisions about instruction. In addition, classroom-based reading assessments were viewed as effective instructional instruments. ESL teachers highly valued classroom-based reading assessments, considered them accurate and valuable, and thought these assessments could provide great help to the daily teaching of reading. Students, statewide mandated standardized tests, and districts were three major forces that influenced this assessment process. Four conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, classroom-based reading assessments played a central role in ESL teachers’ teaching and assessing of reading. Second, ESL teachers highly valued classroom-based reading assessments, considering them valuable, accurate, and efficient. Compared to statewide mandated standardized testing, ESL teachers preferred classroom-based reading assessments. Third, ESL teachers’ use of classroom-based reading assessments was largely under the control of districts or school authorities and there were many disagreements on the ways of assessing reading of ESL students between teachers and the districts or schools. Finally, statewide mandated standardized testing had distorted ESL teachers’ use of classroom-based reading assessments in practice.

The College English Test (CET) in China is the largest language test in the world. The number of CET test-takers has steadily increased from 100,000 for its first administration in 1987 to 13 million in 2006. CET scores are used to draw inferences about the test-takers’ English as a foreign language proficiency as well as their specific skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. To justify the inferences drawn from test scores, evidence from a variety of sources should be constantly collected (Cronbach & Meehl, 1955; Messick, 1992; Chapelle, 1998; Bachman, 2000; Weir, 2005). Despite the large-scale and high-stakes nature of the CET and the importance of test validation, studies on the quality of the CET are scarce. This study aims to examine the construct validity of the reading comprehension section of the CET by modeling the internal relationships between test-takers’ scores on the CET reading section and their underlying reading abilities. Six components have been chosen as observed variables of the latent variable of reading ability, namely, word recognition efficiency, working memory, semantic knowledge, syntactic knowledge, discourse knowledge, and metacognitive reading skills. A pseudowords identification task programmed by the DMDX computer software, a revised version of Daneman & Carpenter’s (1980) sentence reading span working memory test, Meara & Milton’s (2002) Yes/No vocabulary tests, the syntactic test used in Shiotsu & Weir’s (2007) study, Abeywickrama’s (2007) discourse knowledge test, and a revised version of Phakiti’s (2008) strategy use questionnaire were utilized to measure these six observed variables. A total of 181 Chinese undergraduates participated in the study. With a baseline confirmatory factor model of reading ability and the CET scores, a structural model was analyzed. The results indicated that the path from reading ability to test performance was .75 and the squared regression coefficient of test performance was .56, which implied that participants’ test performance was strongly underlined by their actual reading ability. Therefore, the scores on the CET reading section are largely justifiable for use in drawing inferences about participants’ reading ability. Implications for validation research and reading instruction were also explored. / text

Thesis (M.A. (English Studies)) --University of Limpopo, 2016 / Local and international assessments on reading have shown over the past years that South African primary schools learners fail to perform at the expected levels in comparison to their counterparts in other parts of the world. However, efforts by the Department of Education to improve the situation through the introduction of intervention programmes, like the Foundations for Learning do not seem to yield the expected results. This was evident in the Annual National Assessment reports which provided a gloomy picture despite the FFL’ s declared intention to improve reading performance to nothing less than 50%. This study therefore, sought to evaluate the implementation of the FFL reading guidelines. This study followed a qualitative research approach wherein observations and interviews were used to engage teachers in four selected Grade 6 rural schools. The resultant data was further corroborated by document analysis that confirmed the findings arrived at. The main finding emerging from this study was that schools treated the FFL reading guidelines as optional. Other findings were that the participating schools found it difficult to integrate the prescribed time allocated to reading activities into their school time tables without interfering with times allocated to other subjects. They therefore, resorted to their own discretion on how best to use the available time to engage learners in reading activities. The implications of the findings are that the reading guidelines were differently and partially implemented by the schools. The other implication was that the reading instruction conducted by the participating schools focused more on reading for assessment than on reading for pleasure. The ultimate goal of reading, which is to develop learners into independent readers, was therefore compromised.

The purpose of this thesis is to look at effective reading instruction and assessment in the early years of education to determine appropriate forms of assessment and practice for identifying struggling readers. Many American students are struggling with reading problems. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 31% of fourth graders in America were reading proficiently in 2005. To determine a potential cause of reading problems, particularly in comprehension, I look at what is considered to be best practice in teaching children to read. I then evaluate how elementary assessment, which relies heavily on fluency, can contribute to an overemphasis of fluency instruction. I argue this overemphasis of fluency instruction and lack of instruction in comprehension could be a cause of students' reading difficulties not being recognized until later grades. To avoid assessing students purely on fluency, I look at other forms of assessment, that include measures of comprehension assessment, which could provide a clearer picture of students' reading proficiency. I then examine intervention programs and practices that may be most appropriate for remediation. I argue interventions are best when they are tailored to the specific needs of the individual student, and so, schools should avoid purchasing packaged programs. Finally, I discuss a need for more research on seeing if there is a causal connection between a shift in practice to include more comprehension instruction in the early elementary years and fewer reading problems in the secondary years. / Urban Education

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