This week we are looking at assessment
in early childhood education, I read two articles that take very
different approaches to assessment. The article “Using literacy
assessment results to improve teaching for English-language
learners,” focuses on using data from the Phonological Awareness
Literacy Screening standardized assessment. The results of this test
focused on the performance of English-language learners from
Spanish-speaking backgrounds to better understand the literacy
behaviors of these students. The goal of the results from this
assessment is to focus on what kind of instruction might best support
students in their learning to read in a new language(Helman, pg 668).
Meanwhile, another hands on approach is
introduced in “Tile Test: A hands-on approach for assessing phonies
in the early grades.” It describes assessing in a strategic
manner, where in an ideal setting you can sit with individual
students and engage in a conversation designed to reveal a picture of
what the student knows and can do. Areas tested in the first segment
include identification of letters' names and sounds, decoding and
spelling of monosyllabic words and sight-word reading(Norman and
Calfee pg. 42). An interesting part about this technique is training
for this type of assessment is not particularly lengthy, it is
conducted in a few minutes and there are online references to
constantly reference.
That being said there are common themes
that tie these two types of assessment together.
Early Literacy Assessments are
Continuous
“Ongoing assessment of early
literacy progress is essential for giving teachers the information
they need to measure student progress, identify students who may
require additional or individualized assistance, and guide
instructional practice(Helman, pg 668)." There are three measures
to begin the screening process of all students, they must be assessed
again in more basic concepts if they do not meet the requirements.
That being said the students that are not meeting the benchmark can
be again tested on the same concepts after intervention to see how
they perform again. Therefore, the ability to compare the data will
show the student's progress.
“The Tile Test can be used to collect
information before, during, and after instruction to check students'
prior knowledge and progress and to plan for future
instruction(Norma and Calfee pg 50)." The article goes on to
explain the different options and adaptations for the tile test; to
go from individual assessment, to then small group and eventually
adapting to a whole class model. This particular model is designed
for the teacher to be able to customize the particular area that
needs assessment; which again will provide data for comparison.
Early Intervention is Key
The PALS article discussed the
importance of a good literacy foundation in order to support the
student and keep them at an even pace, preventing a phenomena of the
“Matthew Effect-in which the literacy rich keep getting better and
the poor advance at a slower rate-can have serious consequences for
the literacy progress of English learners(Helman, pg 675). This
is a huge problem facing our schools today, and the sooner an issue
is discovered the better off an ELL learner is.
“The Tile Test provides teachers with
an efficient and effective tool for assessing young students'
understanding of the English orthographic system. Their
problem-solving strategies and awareness of strategy use when
decoding and spelling new or unfamiliar words surface through the
metaphonic discussions(Norman and Calfee, pg 51)." Awareness of a
child's issues and where their literacy skills lye is key to fix an
issue before it becomes a bigger problem, without a solid foundation
literacy growth is impossible and children, many ELL will get left
behind their native English-language speaking peers.
The literacy assessment article focuses
on the PALS multi-layered assessment which measures word recognition
in isolation, developmental spelling, and oral reading in context.
If students do not meet the benchmark they are assessed in letter
knowledge, phonemic awareness and concept of word. The Tile test is
student focused, taking time with each individual child in order to
assess early readers' and writers' understanding of letters, sounds,
words, and sentences. The assessments are searching for
comprehension in the same areas, however they are interacting with
different populations, the PALS assessment study compares the
English-only students in comparison to Spanish-speaking only
students. Meanwhile the “Tile Test” study did not reference any
particular populations. I think that the PALS assessment may be
useful as a screening tool for students in order to see on a wider
scale where the students fall in comparison to their English-only
peers, teachers can use the results in order to focuses their
teaching goals and form instructional groups. However perhaps rather
then continuing on the second level of the PALS assessment that a
combination would be a great tool to utilize. For example to
integrate a Tile Test after the first layer of assessment would give
teachers the interaction that is missing during the PALS assessment.
Helman,
L. A. (2005). Using Literacy Assessment Results to Improve Teaching
for English-Language Learners. The
Reading Teacher, 58(7),
668-677.
Norman,
K. A., & Calfee, R. C. (2004). Tile Test: A Hands-on Approach for
Assessing Phonics in the Early Grades. The
Reading Teacher, 58(1),
42-52.
