Standards 2010 - Standard 3 | International Literacy Association

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Standards 2010: Standard 3

Assessment and Evaluation

Candidates use a variety of assessment tools and practices to plan and evaluate effective reading and writing instruction.

The Assessment and Evaluation Standard recognizes the need to prepare teachers for using a variety of assessment tools and practices to plan and evaluate effective reading and writing instruction. The elements featured in this standard relate to the systematic monitoring of student performance at individual, classroom, school, and systemwide levels. Teacher educators who specialize in literacy play a critical role in preparing teachers for multifaceted assessment responsibilities.

The following are the major assumptions of the Standards 2010 Committee for developing this standard and its elements:

The most fundamental goal of assessment and evaluation is to optimize student learning.
Effective assessment practices inform instruction.
Competent reading professionals appreciate the importance of assessment.
Effective reading professionals demonstrate a skilled use of assessment processes and results.
Competent reading professionals are knowledgeable of standardized tests and their uses and limitations in the assessment process.
Effective reading professionals are able to analyze data and communicate findings and implications to appropriate audiences.

Elements

Element 3.1

Candidates understand types of assessments and their purposes, strengths, and limitations.

Evidence that demonstrates competence may include, but is not limited to, the following for each professional role.

Education Support Personnel Candidates	Demonstrate an understanding of established purposes for assessing student performance.
Pre-K and Elementary Classroom Teacher Candidates	Demonstrate an understanding of established purposes for assessing student performance, including tools for screening, diagnosis, progress monitoring, and measuring outcomes. Describe strengths and limitations of a range of assessment tools and their appropriate uses. Recognize the basic technical adequacy of assessments (e.g., reliability, content, and construct validity). Explain district and state assessment frameworks, proficiency standards, and student benchmarks.
Middle and High School Content Classroom Teacher Candidates	Demonstrate an understanding of reading and writing elements of content area assessments and their purposes in assessing student performance. Describe the strengths and limitations of a range of assessment tools and their appropriate uses. Recognize the basic technical adequacy of assessments (e.g., reliability, content, and construct validity). Explain district and state assessment frameworks, proficiency standards, and student benchmarks.
Middle and High School Reading Classroom Teacher Candidates	Demonstrate an understanding of established purposes for assessing student performance, including tools for screening, diagnosis, progress monitoring, and measuring outcomes. Describe the strengths and limitations of a range of assessment tools and their appropriate uses. Recognize the basic technical adequacy of assessments (e.g., reliability, content, and construct validity). Explain district and state assessment frameworks, proficiency standards, and student benchmarks.
Reading Specialist/Literacy Coach Candidates	Demonstrate an understanding of the literature and research related to assessments and their uses and misuses. Demonstrate an understanding of established purposes for assessing the performance of all readers, including tools for screening, diagnosis, progress monitoring, and measuring outcomes. Recognize the basic technical adequacy of assessments (e.g., reliability, content, and construct validity). Explain district and state assessment frameworks, proficiency standards, and student benchmarks.
Teacher Educator Candidates	Prepare preservice teachers and other reading professionals to select, analyze, and use assessment tools based on established purposes. Analyze and critique a range of assessment tools based on established purposes. Contribute to the scholarly dialogue about assessment. Read and understand the literature and research related to assessments and their uses and misuses.
Administrator Candidates	Demonstrate an understanding of the literature and research related to assessments and their uses and misuses. Explain district and state assessment frameworks, proficiency standards, and student benchmarks. Explain large-scale assessment designs, state and district assessment frameworks, proficiency standards, and benchmarks.

Element 3.2

Candidates select, develop, administer, and interpret assessments, both traditional print and electronic, for specific purposes.

Education Support Personnel Candidates	Administer assessments under the direction of certified personnel.
Pre-K and Elementary Classroom Teacher Candidates	Select or develop appropriate assessment tools to monitor student progress and to analyze instructional effectiveness. Administer classroom and school-based assessments using consistent, fair, and equitable assessment procedures. Interpret and use assessment data to analyze individual, group, and classroom performance and progress. Collaborate with other teachers and with support personnel to discuss interpretation of assessment data and their uses in responding to student needs and strengths.
Middle and High School Content Classroom Teacher Candidates	Select or develop assessment tools to analyze instructional effectiveness within the content areas. Administer classroom and school-based assessments using consistent, fair, and equitable assessment procedures. Interpret and use assessment data to analyze individual, group, and classroom performance and progress. Collaborate with other teachers and with support personnel to discuss interpretation of assessment data and their uses in responding to student needs and strengths.
Middle and High School Reading Classroom Teacher Candidates	Select or develop appropriate assessment tools to monitor student progress and to analyze instructional effectiveness. Administer classroom and school-based assessments using consistent, fair, and equitable assessment procedures. Recommend and administer assessments for students in need of reading and writing assistance. Interpret and use assessment data to analyze individual, group, and classroom performance and progress within and across content areas and disciplines. Collaborate with content teachers to monitor student progress and to analyze instructional effectiveness.
Reading Specialist/Literacy Coach Candidates	Administer and interpret appropriate assessments for students, especially those who struggle with reading and writing. Collaborate with and provide support to all teachers in the analysis of data, using the assessment results of all students. Lead schoolwide or larger scale analyses to select assessment tools that provide a systemic framework for assessing the reading, writing, and language growth of all students.
Teacher Educator Candidates	Prepare preservice teachers and other reading professionals to administer and interpret assessments for selected purposes. Analyze and critique a range of diagnostic assessment tools for students in need of reading and writing assistance.
Administrator Candidates	Provide time and fiscal resources to facilitate assessment. Support the development of sound assessment design across classrooms.

Element 3.3

Candidates use assessment information to plan and evaluate instruction.

Education Support Personnel Candidates	Support teachers in data collection and record keeping.
Pre-K and Elementary Classroom Teacher Candidates	Use assessment data to plan instruction systematically and to select appropriate traditional print, digital, and online reading resources. Use assessment data to evaluate students’ responses to instruction and to develop relevant next steps for teaching. Interpret patterns in classroom and individual students’ data. Collaborate with other reading professionals to modify instruction and to plan and evaluate interventions based on assessment data.
Middle and High School Content Classroom Teacher Candidates	Analyze and use assessment data to plan and adjust instruction systematically and to select appropriate reading materials for use in the content areas. Analyze and use assessment data to evaluate students’ responses to instruction and to develop relevant next steps for teaching. Identify and interpret patterns in classroom and individuals’ student data. Collaborate with reading teachers to identify relevant reading and writing strategies and skills for use in the specific content areas or disciplines.
Middle and High School Reading Classroom Teacher Candidates	Use assessment data to plan instruction systematically and to select appropriate traditional print, digital, and online reading resources. Use assessment data to evaluate students’ responses to instruction and to develop relevant next steps for teaching. Identify and interpret patterns in classroom and individual students’ data. Collaborate with content area teachers to use assessment data to modify instruction, evaluate the effectiveness of instruction, and plan content literacy initiatives.
Reading Specialist/Literacy Coach Candidates	Use multiple data sources to analyze individual readers’ performance and to plan instruction and intervention. Analyze and use assessment data to examine the effectiveness of specific intervention practices and students’ responses to instruction. Lead teachers in analyzing and using classroom, individual, grade-level, or schoolwide assessment data to make instructional decisions. Plan and evaluate professional development initiatives using assessment data.
Teacher Educator Candidates	Prepare preservice teachers and other reading professionals to examine the role of assessment in the delivery of effective reading instruction. Prepare preservice teachers and other reading professionals to adjust instruction based on ongoing assessment.
Administrator Candidates	Use student data to facilitate curricular, grouping, and literacy staffing pattern decisions within schools, across schools, and within the district.

Element 3.4

Candidates communicate assessment results and implications to a variety of audiences.

Education Support Personnel Candidates	Understand the importance of student confidentiality and acknowledge the role of certified personnel as communicators of assessment results.
Pre-K and Elementary Classroom Teacher Candidates	Communicate assessment purposes and a summary of results to appropriate audiences (i.e., student, parents or guardians, colleagues, and administrators). Use assessment data and student work samples to discuss relevant implications and goals for reading and writing instruction.
Middle and High School Content Classroom Teacher Candidates	Communicate assessment purposes and a summary of results to appropriate audiences (i.e., student, parents or guardians, colleagues, and administrators). Use assessment data and student work samples to discuss implications for the content area or literacy instruction (e.g., highlight differences in student work samples across a content area).
Middle and High School Reading Classroom Teacher Candidates	Communicate assessment purposes and discuss results with appropriate audiences (i.e., student, parents or guardians, colleagues, and administrators). Use assessment data and student work samples to discuss implications for reading and writing instruction (e.g., highlight differences in student work samples across the content areas).
Reading Specialist/Literacy Coach Candidates	Analyze and report assessment results to a variety of appropriate audiences for relevant implications, instructional purposes, and accountability. Demonstrate the ability to communicate results of assessments to various audiences.
Teacher Educator Candidates	Prepare and coach preservice teachers and other reading professionals to communicate assessment results to various audiences in ways that lead to improved instruction.
Administrator Candidates	Analyze and communicate local, state, and federal assessment results to internal staff and external partners (e.g., community members, policymakers, and other stakeholders). Analyze and communicate literacy performance goals as identified in federal and state laws and the implications of those goals on literacy curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

Research and Supporting Literature

The content of this standard reflects the Standards 2010 Committee’s interpretation of the professional literature in the area of teacher preparation in reading as related to issues of assessment. Some of the readings are foundational to education and teacher preparation generally, whereas others are specific to reading teacher preparation. Not exhaustive of this literature, the following list of readings represents the work of key theorists, researchers, and educators.

Afflerbach, P. (2007). Understanding and using reading assessment, K–12. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Bell, S.M., & McCallum, S. (2008). Handbook of reading assessment. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Fisher, D., & Ivey, G. (2006). Evaluating the interventions for struggling adolescent readers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(3), 180–189. doi:10.1598/JAAL.50.3.2

Invernizzi, M.A., Landrum, T.J., Howell, J.L., & Warley, H.P. (2005). Toward the peaceful coexistence of test developers, policymakers, and teachers in an era of accountability. The Reading Teacher, 58(7), 610–618. doi:10.1598/RT.58.7.2

Johnston, P., & Costello, P. (2005). Theory and research into practice: Principles for literacy assessment. Reading Research Quarterly, 40(2), 256–267. doi:10.1598/RRQ.40.2.6

Klauda, S.L., & Guthrie, J.T. (2008). Relationships of three components of reading fluency to reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(2), 310–321. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.100.2.310

McAndrews, S.L. (2008). Diagnostic literacy assessments and instructional strategies: A literacy specialist’s resource. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

McKenna, M.C., & Walpole, S. (2005). How well does assessment inform our reading instruction? The Reading Teacher, 59(1), 84–86. doi:10.1598/RT.59.1.9

Shepard, L.A. (2004). The role of assessment in a learning culture. In R.B. Ruddell & N.J. Unrau (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (5th ed., pp. 1614–1635). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Taylor, B.M., Pearson, P.D., Clark, K., & Walpole, S. (2000). Effective schools and accomplished teachers: Lessons about primary-grade reading instruction in low-income schools. The Elementary School Journal, 101(2), 121–165. doi:10.1086/499662

Tierney, R.J., Moore, D.W., Valencia, S.W., & Johnston, P. (2000). How will literacy be assessed in the next millennium? Reading Research Quarterly, 35(2), 244–250. doi:10.1598/RRQ.35.2.3

Valencia, S.W., & Wixson, K.K. (2000). Policy-oriented research on literacy standards and assessment. In M.L. Kamil, P.B. Mosenthal, P.D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 3, pp. 909–935). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.