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The Background and The Background and an Overview of….an Overview of….

Florida Assessments for Florida Assessments for Instruction in ReadingInstruction in Reading

(FAIR) (FAIR)

Objectives• Participants will learn definitions

specific to the Florida Assessments for Instruction (FAIR)

• Participants will become familiar with the K-2 FAIR

• Participants will become familiar with the 3-5 FAIR

FAIR Definitions• Assessment Period: A window of days in which the

Assessment Types and Tasks are delivered. There are three Assessment Periods per school year: AP1, AP2, and AP3.

• Assessment Type: There are Assessment Types in the K-2 FAIR and the 3-5 FAIR:

• (1) Broad Screen (BS), (K-2 & 3-5)• (2) Broad Diagnostic Inventory (BDI) (K-2 only)• (3) Targeted Diagnostic Inventory (TDI), (K-2 & 3-5)• (4) Ongoing Progress Monitoring (OPM) (K-2 & 3-5)• (5) Informal Diagnostic Toolkit, (3-5 only) and

• Task: Each Assessment Type consists of a task or tasks. These are the “tests” within the Assessment Type.

• Item: These are the questions within the Task. They are referred to as items.

• Web-based Assessment Module (WAM): This is the computer application that delivers the tasks.

Assessment Periods (AP1, AP2, AP3)

• Instructional days 6 to 40: Aug 31 to Oct 21

• Instructional days 66 to 100: Dec 4 to Feb 9

• Instructional days 136 to 170: April 13 to Jun 1

The Florida Assessments for

Instruction in Reading (FAIR)Comprehensive assessment is key to providing

effective reading instruction

The FL Assessments for Instruction in Reading provide:

• A balance of assessment of learning with assessment for learning

• Early identification of students who may require extra instructional support to achieve grade level standards in reading

• Uniform set of measures across 3-12 for teachers to guide instruction

Why Assess for Learning to Read?

Learning to read is not natural for many individuals, who remain dependent on the skill, knowledge, and persistence of their teachers to acquire reading

proficiency.

Drs. Louisa Moats & Barbara Foorman (1997)

The need for accurate assessments arises because of the enormous diversity in the rate of learning and level of literacy skills among adolescents. Because of this

enormous diversity, a key to meeting our instructional goals is accurate assessment that allows teachers and schools to differentiate instruction according

to individual student’s needs.

Dr. Joseph Torgesen (2007)

The Elements of Reading:

Critical to Assessment AND Instruction

Identifying Words Accurately and Fluently

Constructing Meaning Once Words are

Identified

Phonemic Awareness

Phonics Fluency Vocabulary ComprehensionOral

Language

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Why should teachers individually

assess in the early grades?

• To promote authentic opportunities to use assessment to guide instruction;

• To balance assessment for learning, with assessment of learning (Edwards et al., 2008)

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The K-2 FAIR

Broad Screen Broad Diagnostic Inventory*

Targeted Diagnostic Inventory

Ongoing Progress

Monitoring

Comprehension Tasks required for All Students. Spelling Required for Second Grade. Vocabulary is optional for students in the Green Zone.

*

The K-2 “Big Picture” Map

Broad Screen/Progress Monitoring Tool

(BS/PMT)

“All” children

• Letter Naming & Sounds

• Phonemic Awareness

• Word Reading

Broad Diagnostic Inventory

(BDI)

“All” children for Comprehension

and Spelling (grade 2)

“Some” (ALL in LCSD) children for Vocabulary

• Listening Comprehension

• Reading Comprehension

• Vocabulary

• Spelling (2nd grade only)

Targeted Diagnostic Inventory

(TDI)

“Some” children

• K = 9 tasks

• 1st = 8 tasks

• 2nd = 6 tasks

Ongoing Progress Monitoring

(OPM)

“Some” (ALL in LCSD) children

• Focus on TDI tasks that are below expectations k-2

•Oral Reading Fluency 1-2

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K-2 Broad Screen (BS) Tasks

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How long will it take to administer the K-2 Assessment

Types?• Broad Screen

• Broad Diagnostic Inventory

• Targeted Diagnostic Inventory

• 3- 5 minutes

• 10-15 minutes per task

• Time varies by student

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85% or better probability of grade-level or above performance on the SESAT or SAT-10 or FCAT

16-84% probability of grade-level or above performance on the SESAT or SAT-10 or FCAT

15% or less probability of grade-level or above performance on the SESAT or SAT-10 or FCAT

YELLOW

Success Zones – Probability of Reading Success (PRS) scores (K-2)

or FCAT Success Probability (FSP) scores (3-5)

These probabilities were established based on analysis during test development with Florida K-2 and 3-5 students

GREEN

RED

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K-2 Broad Diagnostic Inventory (BDI)

The K-2 Broad Diagnostic Inventory (BDI) focuses on key reading components that relate to reading success

• Comprehension - includes a fluency score, accuracy score, and comprehension score

• Vocabulary• Spelling – grade 2 only

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K-2 Broad Diagnostic Inventory (BDI)

K-2 Targeted Diagnostic Inventory (TDI)

• A set of tasks that cover the range of developmental reading skills at each grade; they more precisely indicate the areas of instructional need based upon performance on the Broad Screen.

• Students in the yellow and red Probability of Reading Success (PRS) zones must be administered the Targeted Diagnostic Inventory (TDI)

• A criterion of 80% accuracy is required to move on to the next task.

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K-2 Targeted Diagnostic Inventory (TDI)

* Optional17

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Ongoing Progress Monitoring (OPM)

• Letter Name and Sound Knowledge (K)• Phonemic Awareness (K – 2)• Word Building ( K, 1, 2)• Oral Reading Fluency (1, 2, 3-5)

The monitoring tasks replicate the format used in the Florida Assessments. There are 6 additional activities per task that will allow for 4-5 week intervals to monitor progress between the three assessment periods. Informal teacher assessment will likely occur during instructional time also.

Broad Screen/Progress Monitoring Tool

Reading Comprehension Task(3 Times a Year)

Targeted Diagnostic InventoryMaze & Word Analysis Tasks

DiagnosticToolkit

(As Needed)

OngoingProgress

Monitoring(As Needed)

If necessary

3 – 5 FAIR Assessment Types

Required by all students in the LCSD

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The 3-12 “Big Picture” Map

Type of Assessment Name of AssessmentBroad Screen/Progress Monitoring Tool (BS/PMT) –

ALL students

• Reading Comprehension

Targeted Diagnostic Inventory

(TDI) – ALL LCSD students

• Maze• Word Analysis

Informal Diagnostic Toolkit

(Toolkit)

• Lexiled Passages• Instructional Level Passages• Phonics Inventory• Academic Word Inventory

Ongoing Progress Monitoring

(OPM)

• Maze• ORF (ALL LCSD students)• RC (Fall 2009)

Accessing the 3-5 Florida Assessments for Instruction in

Reading (FAIR)Software Requirements are: • Internet Explorer 6.0 or later (Windows platform only)• Safari version 2.0 or later (preferred for Mac users)• Mozilla Firefox version 1.5 or later (Mac or PC)• Flash Player 9.0 or later• JavaScript and Cookies enabledHardware requirements are:

Students must have a set of headphones and a well functioning mouse to take the FAIR tasks via the WAM.

Why use a computer adaptive test for 3-5? What are the

benefits?• A computer adaptive test (CAT) provides a

more reliable assessment of student ability in a shorter amount of time than a traditional test, because it picks questions at a level of difficulty that are most informative for each student.

• Computer adaptive tests provide more reliable assessments particularly for students at the extremes of ability (extremely low ability or extremely high ability).

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Purpose of Each 3 - 5 Assessment

• Broad Screen (BS): Reading Comprehension– Assists in identifying students who may not be

able to meet the grade level literacy standards as assessed by the FCAT. 

• Targeted Diagnostic Inventory (TDI): Maze– Assists in determining whether a student has

more fundamental reading problems in the area of fluency and low level reading comprehension. 

• Targeted Diagnostic Inventory (TDI): Word Analysis – Helps us learn more about a student's

fundamental literacy skills--particularly those required to decode unfamiliar words and read accurately. 

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Information Gained From the Results of the 3 – 5 FAIR

Assessment Types• Broad Screen (BS): Reading Comprehension

– If a student has a relatively low probability of success, it means they will need extra support for reading growth during the year, and the Targeted Diagnostic Inventory (TDI) tasks are given as a follow up to get more information about the type of help that may be needed.

• Targeted Diagnostic Inventory (TDI): Maze– If a student does well on this test, but has a low probability of

success from the Broad Screen (BS), this means that they are likely to need support in the comprehension strategies, vocabulary, and thinking skills, but likely do not need intensive work to increase their basic reading skills.

• Targeted Diagnostic Inventory (TDI): Word Analysis– Students who perform low on both the Maze and Word Analysis

may need intensive interventions to improve their basic reading skills.

Reading Concepts Assessed by the 3-5 FAIR

• Reading Comprehension (Broad Screen: BS)

• Text Reading Efficiency – combines low level comprehension (who, what, when) and fluency(Maze task of the Targeted Diagnostic Inventory)

• Orthographic Processing/Spelling Knowledge (Word Analysis task of the Targeted Diagnostic Inventory)

Reading Comprehension

• Defined: The construction of meaning from printed text, using prior knowledge (of words and world experiences), cues from the text, and cognitive strategies (Dole, Duffy, Roehler, & Pearson, 1991). This complex interplay of processes and skills relies on accurate word recognition (Adams, 1990).

• Key Benefit: Allows students to move from learning to read, to reading to learn.

Skill Base: Reading Comprehension

Word Decoding/Recognition

Possessing adequate decoding or word identification skills to read words within connected text.

(Gough, 1984)

VOCABULARY/WORD KNOWLEDGE

Knowing words under multiple contexts and with multiple meanings, as well as knowing how words are interrelated to impact meaning.(Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002; Nagy & Scott, 2000)

COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES

Using cognitive strategies to support reading (e.g., making inferences, predicting, associating ideas, monitoring understandability).

(Pressley & Afflerback, 1995)

WORLD KNOWLEDGEPossessing prior knowledge about the reading topic in order to construct meaning from the text.

(Anderson & Pearson, 1984)

Text Reading Efficiency

• Combines both fluency and low level comprehension

• Fluency Defined: “The ability to read text accurately and quickly…effortlessly and with expression.” (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2001)

• Key Benefit: Serves to bridge word reading skills and comprehension. (Osborn, Lehr, & Hiebert, 2003)

Skill Base: Text Reading Efficiency

ACCURACY

Accurate decoding of words in text.

(Gough, 1984)

READING AUTOMATICITY

Effortless word recognition that allows for attention to be allocated to other aspects of comprehension.

(Foorman & Mehta, 2002; La Berge & Samuels, 1974)

COMPREHENSION

Understanding meaning prepares students to read other words related to that meaning.

(Jenkins, Fuchs, van den Broek, Espin, & Deno, 2003 )

Word Analysis• Defined: This term is often used

interchangeably with– Advanced phonics– Spelling– Structural analysis

Key Benefit: Analyzing the spellings of individuals can provide necessary information regarding the understanding and mastery of orthography, phonology, and morphology all in one assessment (Moats, 1995; Treiman, 1998).

Skill Base: Word Analysis

ORTHOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge of the way specific words are represented in print.

(Adams, 2001)

PHONOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE

Awareness of the sound system of language.

(National Reading Panel, 2000; Treiman & Bourassa, 2000)

MORPHOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE

Awareness of the units of meaning in language.

– base words, roots, affixes

(Moats, 1995)

Broad Screen/Progress Monitoring Tool

Reading Comprehension

(3 Times a Year)

Targeted Diagnostic Inventory

Maze & Word Analysis

Diagnostic

Toolkit(As

Needed)

OngoingProgressMonitoring

(As Needed)

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Summary and Review

Broad Screen Broad Diagnostic Inventory*

Targeted Diagnostic Inventory

Ongoing Progress

Monitoring

Comprehension Tasks required for All Students. Spelling Required for Second Grade. Vocabulary is optional for students in the Green Zone.

*

Required by all students in the LCSD

Reading Comprehension