PEDP 9103 - Reading Fundamentals 3: The Elements of Effective Reading Evaluation & Assessment

Course Description

The Reading Fundamental program focuses on implementing proven methods of early reading instruction in classrooms. Through the federal reading initiative, states and districts will receive support to apply scientifically based reading research?and the proven instructional and assessment tools consistent with this research?to ensure that all children learn to read well by the end of third grade. The Reading Fundamentals program will provide the necessary assistance to states and districts to establish research-based reading programs for students in kindergarten through third grade. Funds will also support a significant increase in professional development to ensure that all teachers have the skills they need to teach these reading programs effectively. Additionally, the program provides assistance to states and districts in preparing classroom teachers to screen, identify, and eliminate reading barriers facing their students (U.S. Department of Education, 2002, p. 1). Reading Fundamentals not only specifies that an effective reading program should include phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension instruction, but also notes that ?an effective reading program is one that coherently integrates: screening, diagnostic and classroom-based assessments that are valid and reliable? (U.S. Department of Education, 2002a, p. 2). Accountability is the cornerstone of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2002b) that includes federal reading legislation. Throughout the NCLB legislation, reference is made to helping students meet high academic standards and to measuring what they know and can do. If we are to ensure that all children can read by grade 3, as the legislation suggests, we must provide some way of measuring children?s performance. This assessment holds us accountable for what instruction and programs we provide in the classroom. This course will describe the elements of effective reading instruction in some detail. Two primary sources were used in developing this course. First, the National Reading Panel Report (2000) was used. This Report serves as the most current ?evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction? (note title of the National Reading Panel Report). Second, the Put Reading First document (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2001a), a well-respected and easy-to-read publication on the research building blocks for teaching children to read, was used. ?The findings and conclusions in this publication were drawn from the 2000 report of the National Reading Panel? (Armbruster et al., p. i). Educational assessment involves gathering, interpreting, and synthesizing information to help teachers make important decisions about student performance (Airasian, 2001). It involves everything from scores on projects, papers, and exams to how children perform on school, district, state, or national evaluations (suc