Question 1

Evaluation should end with

Accepted Answer

A)  tallying of assessment results and comparing them to other populations. 
B)  interpreting and reporting of test results. 
C)  making judgments about the effectiveness of the program. 
D)  making changes to improve the program or the student?s habits. D

Question 2

What are some informal measures that might be used to assess literacy development? What are the advantages and disadvantages of informal assessments overall? After listing a number of measures, choose one type and consider its particular advantages and disadvantages.

Accepted Answer

Some informal measures include the following:
1 Retelling (including oral and written types)
2 Think-aloud protocols (including oral and written types)
3 Observation (including both reading and writing)
4 Anecdotal records (hand-written or computerized)
5 Ratings (including checklists, forced-choice and open-ended questionnaires, and interviews)
6 Conferences (including discussions with students)
7 Self-evaluation (including student checklists, questionnaires, exit slips, logs, and journals)
8 Evaluative writing (including holistic scoring and analytic scoring)
9 Portfolios (including reading and writing samples)
Advantages: are often less time-consuming and more practical than formal tests; can be incorporated into daily activities and group sessions; involve both written and oral expression; are free (certain types) from probes or questions, giving insight into language and thought processes; incorporate valuable teacher observations that cannot be obtained elsewhere; engage and reinforce the students; offer insight into a studentʹs thinking, interests, personal involvement, study habits, and strategies.
Disadvantages: may be biased; must be interpreted subjectively rather than objectively; may lead to conclusions based on only a few informal sessions; discourage shy or hesitant children from performing up to their ability; may omit or abbreviate crucial details if students assume the evaluator is familiar with the material; may neglect to use neutral and consistent language in teacher instructions; can involve laborious scoring; are based on mode of expression and the way students provide information; may neglect to consider how a class did overall when evaluating one student; portfolios, samples, or observations may not be broadly representative of student work; students may be overwhelmed if too many questions or tasks are required.
Student answers will vary regarding the advantages and disadvantages of one specific informal measure.

Question 3

How would you go about setting up an evaluation component for a literacy program?

Accepted Answer

To be balanced and thorough, an evaluation of a literacy program usually involves data from tests, work samples, and teacher observations. Such an evaluation should be based on standards and objectives, and should focus on student improvement. It may include a number of components, such as results from summative and formative assessments, data from norm-referenced tests (if used by the school district, not recommended by this text) and criterion-references tests, and scores from classroom tests and high-stakes tests. Teacher observations, notes, anecdotal records, checklists, or conferences, as well as student writing samples, portfolios, or self-evaluations should also be used to avoid basing all decisions on just test scores.

Question 4

The contents of a portfolio should depend primarily upon

Accepted Answer

A)  the goals and results of instruction. 
B)  the speed with which the student learns. 
C)  the level of instruction. 
D)  the amount of work the student has done.

Question 5

Evaluation begins with

Accepted Answer

A)  selecting assessment instruments. 
B)  describing instructional activities. 
C)  listing goals and objectives or standards. 
D)  administering tests.

Question 6

On a miscue analysis, a high semantic similarity and low graphic similarity suggests that the student is

Accepted Answer

A)  neglecting phonics. 
B)  integrating phonics and contextual clues. 
C)  overusing phonics. 
D)  neglecting context.

Question 7

Which of the following set of scores represents the student?s instructional level?

Accepted Answer

A)  90 percent word recognition, 80 percent comprehension 
B)  95 percent word recognition, 75 percent comprehension 
C)  95 percent word recognition, 60 percent comprehension 
D)  99 percent word recognition, 90 percent comprehension

Question 8

Norm-referenced tests are generally most helpful to

Accepted Answer

A)  administrators. 
B)  parents. 
C)  teachers. 
D)  students.

Question 9

What steps might be taken to get the most benefit from an informal reading inventory?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What steps might be taken to get...

Question 10

How would you go about setting up a portfolio system to assess your studentsʹ literacy development?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How would you go about setting up...

Question 11

What is the main purpose of progress monitoring?

Accepted Answer

A)  to predict later success over many years 
B)  to establish base reading levels and depict any problems 
C)  to see if students are currently making adequate improvement 
D)  to evaluate the effectiveness of a program

Question 12

Which of the following is an example of functional level testing?

Accepted Answer

A)  giving a gifted fourth-grader a fourth-grade test 
B)  giving a struggling reader in the fourth grade a second-grade test 
C)  giving an average fourth-grader a second-grade test 
D)  giving an average fourth-grader a sixth-grade test

Question 13

Which measure of validity is most important for informing classroom instruction?

Accepted Answer

A)  statistical validity 
B)  predictive validity 
C)  concurrent validity 
D)  content validity

Question 14

How might progress monitoring be used to help all students, not just those with reading difficulties?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How might progress monitoring be used to...

Question 15

Which of the following can most readily be used for formative assessment?

Accepted Answer

A)  state assessment given yearly 
B)  district test given yearly 
C)  weekly quiz 
D)  mid-term exam

Question 16

The best approach for assessing the difficulty level of materials is to

Accepted Answer

A)  use both the ATOS and the lexile scale. 
B)  create a word list formula and a syllable formula. 
C)  rely on a well-accepted leveling system such as that created by Fountas and Pinnell. 
D)  use objective and subjective methods such as formulas, leveling scores, and observations, and professional judgment.

Question 17

What is the difference between norm-referenced tests and criterion-referenced tests? What are the weaknesses of each type?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is the difference between norm-referenced tests...

Question 18

How might you go about determining the difficulty level of materials?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How might you go about determining the...

Question 19

The major problem with high-stakes tests is that they often

Accepted Answer

A)  are too difficult for most students. 
B)  put unnecessary and undue pressure on students. 
C)  take too much time away from voluntary reading. 
D)  narrow the curriculum to what is tested.

Exam 3: Assessing for Learning