Across the country, there is growing awareness of the dividends of early reading success and the stark consequences of early reading failure. A number of assessment studies in recent years have shown that the educational achievement of learners in South African schools is unacceptably poor. The 2011 Annual National Assessment results indicate a 35% literacy rate for South African learners in Grade 3 and a 30% literacy rate for learners in the North West Province of South Africa. According to Kanjee (2008), there is a growing trend in South Africa towards the use of assessment to improve learning. The aim of this study is to develop a school-wide progress monitoring assessment system for early literacy skills. In beginning literacy the development of this school-wide progress monitoring assessment system will be based on the premise that useful assessment of learner progress should be formative in its instructional effects and that it needs to focus teacher attention on data representing the results of their efforts. The development of a school-wide progress monitoring assessment system can help identify and strategically intervene before learners become part of the low South African literacy rate statistic. It is generally recognized that reading is developmental and acquired over time. From the convergence of more than 30 years of scientific research, researchers now have a solid scientific understanding of the core foundational skills in beginning reading. Foundational skills are prerequisite and fundamental to later success in a content area or domain. These skills differentiate successful from less successful readers and most important are amenable to change through instruction. One example of a comprehensive assessment system designed to assess these key foundational skills of early literacy for young learners is the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). DIBELS measures, by design, are indicators of each of the Basic Early Literacy Skills. In this study, the aim is to collaborate with subject specialists (district level), school management teams (school level), and teachers (classroom level), in order to obtain an in depth understanding of assessment practices in general, and specifically progress monitoring assessment as well as the assessment support needs of teachers and learners. The collaborative aim is to establish a school-wide progress monitoring assessment system that will not only enhance the assessment practices of teachers, but also the system-wide decisions that need to take place so that effective instructional decisions can be made at all levels, and most importantly at the classroom level. In this study I chose to conduct a 16 month action research project in one primary school (i.e., the Happy Valley School) in one specific district (i.e., the Cloudy District) in the North West Province. From the data it is clear that ANA dominates conversations related to assessment, especially in foundation phase. Both at district and school level there is no clear indication that the information generated from assessments is key evidence to continuous improvement in teaching and learning. The data also indicates that the government documents play a crucial role in guiding the actions of the stakeholders. The data indicates that progress monitoring relates specifically to “showing” or “proving” improved learning in language/literacy as measured by ANA. In addition to ANA, and at classroom level, teachers monitor progress fairly “randomly”; they can decide what to ‘look’ for, usually by using their summative assessment marks, when deciding whether a learner is making progress or not. It is possible, therefore, that no two teachers will look at the same foundational literacy skill when deciding whether the learner is making progress in a particular skill. There is also no guideline for teachers in terms of what to aim for in order to ensure that learners make progress in core foundational literacy skills that evidence-based research has shown to have a major effect on reading achievement. In this study, I used a metaphor to illustrate the core components of a progress monitoring assessment and support rocket system. The aim of the rocket is to ensure that all learners achieve “lift off” and hit the identified targets, at all grade levels, on the way to reading success. In order to ensure that the rocket is launched effectively, all stakeholders have to fulfil essential tasks or roles. The assessment and support rocket system implemented in this study was developed to provide a prevention-oriented, assessment and support decision-making system to pre-empt early reading difficulty and ensure progress step-bystep toward outcomes that result in reading achievement for all children. / PhD (Curriculum Development Innovation and Evaluation), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Across the country, there is growing awareness of the dividends of early reading success and the stark consequences of early reading failure. A number of assessment studies in recent years have shown that the educational achievement of learners in South African schools is unacceptably poor. The 2011 Annual National Assessment results indicate a 35% literacy rate for South African learners in Grade 3 and a 30% literacy rate for learners in the North West Province of South Africa. According to Kanjee (2008), there is a growing trend in South Africa towards the use of assessment to improve learning. The aim of this study is to develop a school-wide progress monitoring assessment system for early literacy skills. In beginning literacy the development of this school-wide progress monitoring assessment system will be based on the premise that useful assessment of learner progress should be formative in its instructional effects and that it needs to focus teacher attention on data representing the results of their efforts. The development of a school-wide progress monitoring assessment system can help identify and strategically intervene before learners become part of the low South African literacy rate statistic. It is generally recognized that reading is developmental and acquired over time. From the convergence of more than 30 years of scientific research, researchers now have a solid scientific understanding of the core foundational skills in beginning reading. Foundational skills are prerequisite and fundamental to later success in a content area or domain. These skills differentiate successful from less successful readers and most important are amenable to change through instruction. One example of a comprehensive assessment system designed to assess these key foundational skills of early literacy for young learners is the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). DIBELS measures, by design, are indicators of each of the Basic Early Literacy Skills. In this study, the aim is to collaborate with subject specialists (district level), school management teams (school level), and teachers (classroom level), in order to obtain an in depth understanding of assessment practices in general, and specifically progress monitoring assessment as well as the assessment support needs of teachers and learners. The collaborative aim is to establish a school-wide progress monitoring assessment system that will not only enhance the assessment practices of teachers, but also the system-wide decisions that need to take place so that effective instructional decisions can be made at all levels, and most importantly at the classroom level. In this study I chose to conduct a 16 month action research project in one primary school (i.e., the Happy Valley School) in one specific district (i.e., the Cloudy District) in the North West Province. From the data it is clear that ANA dominates conversations related to assessment, especially in foundation phase. Both at district and school level there is no clear indication that the information generated from assessments is key evidence to continuous improvement in teaching and learning. The data also indicates that the government documents play a crucial role in guiding the actions of the stakeholders. The data indicates that progress monitoring relates specifically to “showing” or “proving” improved learning in language/literacy as measured by ANA. In addition to ANA, and at classroom level, teachers monitor progress fairly “randomly”; they can decide what to ‘look’ for, usually by using their summative assessment marks, when deciding whether a learner is making progress or not. It is possible, therefore, that no two teachers will look at the same foundational literacy skill when deciding whether the learner is making progress in a particular skill. There is also no guideline for teachers in terms of what to aim for in order to ensure that learners make progress in core foundational literacy skills that evidence-based research has shown to have a major effect on reading achievement. In this study, I used a metaphor to illustrate the core components of a progress monitoring assessment and support rocket system. The aim of the rocket is to ensure that all learners achieve “lift off” and hit the identified targets, at all grade levels, on the way to reading success. In order to ensure that the rocket is launched effectively, all stakeholders have to fulfil essential tasks or roles. The assessment and support rocket system implemented in this study was developed to provide a prevention-oriented, assessment and support decision-making system to pre-empt early reading difficulty and ensure progress step-bystep toward outcomes that result in reading achievement for all children. / PhD (Curriculum Development Innovation and Evaluation), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

No description available.

Reading is one of the primary goals of the early elementary grades. When students start to struggle with this complex skill, educators and parents search for solutions to rectify quickly mounting gaps before a child falls too far behind. In the State of Oklahoma, lawmakers have passed a law requiring mandatory 3rd grade retention for students who do not pass the state reading test. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the perceptions of stakeholders who had experienced implementation of mandated student retention in early childhood. The study is informed by Bourdieu's cultural capital theory of social distinctions, Bloom's taxonomy theory, and Festinger's social comparison theory. Seventeen participants, including 2 parents, 8 teachers, and 7 administrators, took part in face-to-face interviews and focus groups to provide data on 3rd graders in 4 schools in an Oklahoma district. Responses from interviews and focus groups were audiorecorded, transcribed, and coded for themes. Nine themes emerged from data analysis. These themes reflected participants' concern for the potential damage to students' self-esteem, an increase in dropout rates, and that the 3rd grade is too late for retention. On the positive side, participants indicated mandatory retention permitted retention that had been previously refused, and provides time for maturity, as well as the opportunity for success for struggling students. However, study participants also opined that mandatory retention created new challenges for students, teachers, and schools. Findings guided the development of a policy recommendation to create social change within the participating district, empowering educators to help parents better understand this law and prepare their children for the 3rd grade assessment by outlining a plan for early identification and creating programs for struggling students.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:25:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4320.pdf: 2797157 bytes, checksum: 9d3bc1c470c0b601341992176eb1755e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-28 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / Inferences based on the results of language tests have been used to make decisions about people s lives because tests work as a gateway at important moments related to education, employment and moving from one country to another (MCNAMARA, 2000). In this study, we aimed at discussing the inclusion of an English test in the ENEM entrance examination in Brazil. This test evaluates the reading ability in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Its use in the Brazilian educational system was introduced without the development and publication of specifications that are a central and crucial part of a test construction process. Test specifications should include information related to the theoretical framework underlying the test and the level of understanding expected from test-takers (ALDERSON; CLAPHAM; WALL, 1995). From this perspective, we conducted an interpretative research (MOITA LOPES, 1994) based on documents (LANKSHEAR; KNOBEL, 2008) in order to understand the construct that underlies the ENEM English test. The documents that contributed to the data analysis were the English Curricular Guidelines for Brazilian Secondary Schools and the Guidelines for ENEM 2009, which are the documents that direct the development of the current version of ENEM. The results obtained from the analysis of the 2010 and 2011 ENEM English tests show that the assessment of the EFL reading ability is operationalized primarily through the decoding of texts by test-takers, which originates from a narrow concept of language (SCARAMUCCI, 1995). Based on this, we believe that the ENEM English test does not allow test-takers to read between the lines, as suggested by the English Curricular Guidelines. The results also show that the competence and the skills presented by the Guidelines for ENEM 2009 are not implemented in the ENEM English test. Furthermore, the results suggest that the development of this test should be reconsidered by the test writers, starting with the design and publication of specifications that are coherent with the contemporary theories that guide the process of EFL teaching, learning and assessment. / Na área de avaliação em contextos de ensino-aprendizagem de línguas, inferências feitas com base nos resultados de exames têm sido utilizadas de forma crescente na tomada de decisões sobre a vida das pessoas avaliadas, com os exames funcionando, por exemplo, como porta de entrada em importantes momentos da educação, na busca por um emprego e ao transitar de um país para outro (MCNAMARA, 2000). Em âmbito nacional, a reformulação do Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM), ocorrida em 2009, implicou na sua transformação em um exame de acesso ao ensino superior, sendo que muitas instituições públicas de ensino vêm, desde então, substituindo, total ou parcialmente, seus exames vestibulares pelo ENEM. Nesse contexto de reformulação do ENEM, dois aspectos despertaram nossa atenção: a inclusão de uma prova que avalia a habilidade de leitura em língua estrangeira (LE) dos candidatos e a ausência de especificações para essa prova, nas quais deveriam constar informações relacionadas ao arcabouço teórico que a fundamenta, ou seja, ao seu construto, e ao tipo de compreensão esperada dos examinandos (ALDERSON; CLAPHAM; WALL, 1995). Partindo dessa perspectiva, procedemos a esta pesquisa interpretativista (MOITA LOPES, 1994) baseada em documentos (LANKSHEAR; KNOBEL, 2008), com o objetivo de compreender o construto que fundamenta a prova de inglês do ENEM. Os documentos que contribuíram para a análise da prova mencionada foram as Orientações Curriculares para o Ensino Médio - Língua Estrangeira (OCEM-LE) e a Matriz de Referência para o ENEM 2009, que segundo o MEC/Inep, direcionam a elaboração da versão atual do exame. Os resultados, provenientes da análise das questões da prova de inglês das edições 2010 e 2011 do ENEM, revelam que a avaliação de leitura em LE operacionalizada nessa prova mobiliza predominantemente a decodificação de textos pelos examinandos, sendo perpassada por uma concepção estreita e fragmentada de língua(gem) e associada a uma visão de leitura como extração passiva dos sentidos do texto (SCARAMUCCI, 1995). Assim, entendemos que a maior parte das questões da prova de inglês do ENEM não converge com as sugestões das OCEM-LE de que a leitura em LE deve ser entendida como uma prática cultural e crítica de língua(gem). Os resultados mostram, ainda, que a competência e as habilidades apresentadas pela Matriz de Referência para o ENEM 2009 não são contempladas nessa prova, além de sinalizarem que todo o processo de desenvolvimento da prova de inglês do ENEM deveria ser revisto pelos agentes do MEC/Inep, a começar pela elaboração de especificações consistentes para essa prova, e acima de tudo, coerentes com as teorias contemporâneas que orientam o processo de ensino-aprendizagem de LE (inglês) e sua avaliação.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The majority of Grade 4 students in the United States do not read at the proficient level. In response to this problem, which has persisted for decades, the United States Congress in 2004 mandated response to intervention as a multitiered classroom support system designed to improve reading skills for students in K-12 public schools. However, little research has been conducted about how classroom teachers use diagnostic assessments, provide small group instruction, and monitor progress in reading interventions. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how teachers used assessments and instruction in reading interventions for students in Grades 1-3 who were at-risk in reading. The conceptual framework was based on Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development related to the zone of proximal development. A single case study design was used to collect data from multiple sources, including teacher interviews, observations of interventions in reading, and related documents. Participants included 3 teachers in Grades 1-3 from an elementary school located in a western state. Data analysis involved coding and constructing categories for each data source and examining categorized data for themes and discrepancies. Results showed that teachers in Grades 1-3 used various diagnostic assessments and classroom observations to place students at-risk in reading in interventions, and they also used various diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments to inform their instruction. In addition, participants used a scaffolding process that involved contingency, fading, and transfer of responsibility to provide instruction for these students. This research contributes to positive social change by advancing knowledge about how to improve reading intervention instruction so that students at-risk in reading may better contribute to society as literate citizens.

xiii, 137 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Research suggests that development of the alphabetic principle is a critical factor in learning to recognize words and becoming a successful reader. The alphabetic principle encompasses both the understanding that relationships exist between letters and sounds and the application of these relationships to reading words. This study investigated the degree to which different measures of the alphabetic principle were predictive of later reading development. These measures were examined in the context of Ehri's phase theory of sight word development to investigate how different behaviors associated with the alphabetic principle fit within a developmental framework. Two cohorts of students (109 kindergarteners, 212 first graders) participated in this study from spring of 2007 until late fall of 2008 (58 second graders, 121 third graders). The predictive powers of single and combined measures of the alphabetic principle were analyzed using sequential regression. Results indicated that each measure explained significant between-student variation in performance on measures of word reading fluency, oral reading fluency (ORF), vocabulary, and reading comprehension. A measure of letter-sounds embedded in nonsense words appeared to have more utility for the prediction of reading outcomes than a measure of letter-sounds presented in isolation. Additionally, including a measure of nonsense words with a measure of letter-sounds embedded in nonsense words increased the predictive power of the model over and above the predictive power of letter sounds alone. Growth on ORF served as an additional criterion for the purpose of investigating the methodology of measuring growth. Two conceptualizations of growth were explored: raw score change over time and individual rates of growth over time (slope). Correlations and sequential regression were used to evaluate the relationship between raw score change and measures of the alphabetic principle. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to model individual slopes on Lexile measures of ORF (LORF). In general, raw score change appeared largely unrelated to measures of the alphabetic principle. HLM analyses revealed that individual differences in slope on LORF were minimal and not very reliable, making the prediction of these differences difficult. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice are discussed. / Committee in charge: Roland Good, Chairperson, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Kenneth Merrell, Member, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Leanne Ketterlin Geller, Member, Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership; Jean Stockard, Outside Member, Planning Public Policy and Management