Assessment for independent reading levels

Assessing a Student's Level | Reading A-Z

Digital

With our online running record tool, Raz-Plus or Raz-Kids members can:

• Assign a Benchmark Book from Levels aa-J
• Assign a Benchmark Passage from Levels aa-Z2
• Listen to students' recordings from reading aloud a book or passage.
• Score all student recordings using an online running-record tool.
• Listen to students' recordings of retellings.
• Score retellings using an online rubric.
• See quiz questions missed and a report on which comprehension skills to support or re-teach with each student.
• Reward students' progress through awarding stars to spend in the RAZ Rocket.
• Track your students' progress over time.

Reading A-Z provides a three-part assessment process to help you place students in instructionally appropriate level texts.

• Find out at which level to start a student.
• Determine when a student is ready to move to the next level.

Part 1: Students read Benchmark Passages or Benchmark Books (Levels aa-J), and you capture their reading behavior on Running Records.

Part 2: Students retell the text, and you use Retelling Rubrics to score their comprehension.

Part 3: Students take an oral or written Comprehension Quick Check Quiz, and each question's answer tells what skill it assessed to help you identify comprehension skills for additional practice.

Review About Running Records to learn about the details of taking, marking and scoring a running record.

Parts 2 & 3: Retelling Rubrics and Comprehension Quick Check Quizzes provide details about a student's understanding and comprehension of the Benchmark Passage or Book.

• Retelling Rubrics provide details that identify strengths and weaknesses students might have comprehending fiction or nonfiction texts; including analysis of text structures.
• Benchmark Passages and Benchmark Books (Levels aa-J) have multiple-choice Comprehension Quick Check Quizzes and answer keys. Use the skill tags on the answer key to see comprehension strengths and opportunities for additional instruction.

How Do I Monitor Students' Reading Progress?
Use Benchmark Books or Benchmark Passages and their associated resources for progress monitoring as students' reading at their instructional levels improves.

Assessment Schedule

Students who are not progressing at the expected rate should be assessed even more frequently than the Assessment Schedule suggests.

The scores your students achieve on running records, retellings, and comprehension quizzes give you valuable information about their reading behavior and comprehension. Use it to inform your instruction in addition to placing students and monitoring their progress.

Use the chart below along with the other information you learn from the three-part assessment process to determine if students are ready to move up a level.

Scores

How Do I Match Learning A-Z Levels to Other Leveling Systems?
For your convenience, Learning A-Z correlates its levels to other leveling systems. If you've already placed students in levels according to another system, please reference the Level Correlation Chart to determine how another system's levels best match Learning A-Z's levels.

The correlations are not official levels assigned by the other leveling systems, but rather an approximate correlation based on a comparison of attributes in books assigned official levels by both the other leveling system and Learning A-Z.

IRLA/ENIL Overview

A Developmental Taxonomy for Teaching, Learning, and Assessing Reading K-12

American Reading Company’s Reading Independent Reading Level Assessment^® is a game-changing formative assessment for reading that changes the daily behaviors of teachers, students, and administrators.

The IRLA^®'s Developmental Reading Taxonomy^® begins with Reading On-Ramp^™, then proceeds through phonics and vocabulary & knowledge developmental sequences. The IRLA delivers specific, actionable data that tells the teacher where a student is, why, and the sequence of skills/behaviors needed to learn next to accelerate reading growth.

Available for Common Core State Standards, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, and Virginia Standards of Learning.

Videos

Grade 1 Demo

Grade 8 Demo

Spanish Grade 1 Demo

Introducing the Guide to IRLA Coaching with Multilingual Learners

A companion to the IRLA that is designed to provide teachers with specific guidance around using the IRLA with Multilingual Learners.

This guide builds from what teachers know about formative assessment and coaching using the IRLA. It is organized to provide high-leverage Power Goals specific to students who are developing reading skills as they acquire English language proficiency, and vice-versa.

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How It Works

The IRLA is not intended to limit what students read. Rather, the IRLA's reading taxonomy simplifies the complexity of the reading process, allowing teachers to support every reader, with whatever books that reader chooses. As one user said, "the IRLA takes the mystery out of teaching reading."

Our approach asks teachers to start with what each child CAN do. Teachers identify the one essential skill/standard that student needs to move reading levels, help him learn it, and repeat in a relentless march toward grade level and beyond. Teachers know their students, students know themselves, and teachers and students are partners in the learning process.

The IRLA allows you to track progress in real time. Each standard has been assigned a point value relative to the amount of time it should take a student to acquire that skill or concept. In each formative assessment conference, teachers score students on any standards they have mastered, allowing teachers and schools to track rate of reading growth for every student.

We've spent the last 20 years evaluating virtually every book in print from every publisher. To determine reading level, every book is double-blind hand-leveled using the three legs of text complexity and located on our developmental taxonomy of reading acquisition. Books in every collection wear a brightly colored sticker identifying their placement within the IRLA's color-coded leveling system.

Watch our video to learn more about ARC's leveled libraries.

Why a Structured Phonics Program is Effective

David Liben, Student Achievement Partners, and David D. Paige, Bellarmine University, explore the importance and effectiveness of structured phonics—specifically naming American Reading Company's IRLA and IRLA Toolkits as one of the structured phonics programs that gets it right.

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Measurement Incorporated Supports Claims of IRLA Effectiveness

In a 2014 study conducted by Measurement Incorporated, an industry leader in delivering research and evaluation services to educational institutions, experts and practitioners alike agree that the IRLA® formative assessment framework does indeed offer a multitude of benefits for students, teachers, parents, and administrators.

Read the Report

IRLA Report Overview: Ten Proven Claims

Results

The IRLA has demonstrated success in more than 5,000 schools, 1,000 districts, and 50 states, including the District of Columbia. Dramatic improvements in reading proficiency are evident in a variety of assessment results, including high-stakes standardized tests.

Check out some of our highlights.

• Chatfield Elementary School, Chatfield Public Schools, MN
  Students in the bottom 15% of the school in reading went from 18% scoring proficient on the MCA exam to 88%.
• Clinton Elementary School, Lancaster County School District, SC
  Grade 3 African American males scoring proficient or advanced increased 34 points on PASS ELA exam, outperforming the district and state averages.
• Cramer College Preparatory Lab School, Camden City Public Schools, NJ
  Over 80% of students exited Kindergarten and first grade above their expected grade-level equivalency on Gates-MacGinitie Assessment.
• PS/MS 194X, New York City Public Schools, NY
  ELL Proficiency rates doubled from 13% to 33.3% in one year, while the district and city-wide rates dropped.
• Palm Bay Elementary, Brevard Public Schools, FL
  Percentage of students in “Lowest 25% making learning gains in reading” increased from 56% to 80%.
• Bristol Township School District, PA
  Bristol Township School District went from 28% proficient to 71.8% proficient from October to June—more than 40 points of growth.
• Reading School District, PA
  Reading more than quadrupled the number of students proficient or above—going from 8.3% to 36.2%.
• Three Rivers Elementary, TX
  Three Rivers started with 17.8% of students reading proficiently and ended the year with 55.5% proficient or above—almost 40 points of growth.

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• Formative Assessment
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• Text Complexity
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Diagnosis of the level of formation of the skill of independent reading in students with intellectual disabilities

One of the priority problems facing the educational organization is to introduce the child to reading. Unfortunately, in our age of informatization, the attitude of children to the book has changed, interest in reading has begun to decline. Sociological studies in our country and abroad have revealed negative trends: there is a markedly reduced interest in reading among students of senior school age; the share of reading in the structure of children's free time has been drastically reduced. Modern children spend more and more time playing computer games and watching TV. nine0003

Reading is an inexhaustible source of enrichment with knowledge, a universal way of developing and correcting a child's cognitive and speech abilities, his creative powers, a powerful means of educating moral qualities.

Reading independence includes the formation of reading technique, the ability to listen, perceive and comprehend what is read. O.V. Dzhezheley, N. Naumchuk, N.A. Rubakina, N.N. Svetlovskaya and others [3, p.20]. nine0003

R. N. Buneev, O. V. Dzhezheley, N. E. Dobrynina, L. F. Klimanova, T. A. Neborskaya, G. M. Pervova, T. S. Piche -ool, N. N. Svetlovskaya, O. V. Chindilova and others [2, p.5].

Our interest in formative scientific research concerned the degree of formation of independent reading skills in students with intellectual disabilities. For this purpose, we conducted a stating experiment, which included a survey of students, the purpose of which was to identify the need for reading works of art and 2 diagnostic tasks aimed at identifying the level of formation of reading skills (correctness, expressiveness, awareness, fluency) and the ability to work with a book . nine0003

An analysis of the processing of the results obtained during the survey showed that a small part of children like to read books. Most of all, children are attracted to works about nature and animals. Most students read books out of necessity. A small number of children read books that are not provided for by the school curriculum, but they could not answer what these books were about. According to the responses received, a couple of students visit the library. We also found out that children choose books to read based on their appearance. nine0003

The data obtained in the course of the diagnostic task No. 1 indicate that the majority of children with intellectual disabilities have insufficiently formed reading qualities such as expressiveness and fluency. Most children read monotonously, do not observe the necessary pace, correct intonation, do not highlight logical stresses, punctuation marks, do not pause. Many subjects had a low reading rate, there were difficulties in reading three and four-syllable words, as well as words with a confluence of consonants. Also, students often had difficulty understanding what they read. The percentage of the formation of reading skills is shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 1. Percentage of the formation of reading skills

The results of diagnostic task No. 2 showed that many of the children with intellectual disabilities examined by us do not have the skills to work with a book. The students experienced difficulties in finding a given work in the book, they did not use the table of contents for this, but carried out a search by turning the pages. When drawing up a plan for reading to all the children with intellectual disabilities we examined, the help of the experimenter was required in the form of prompts and leading questions. nine0003

Thus, the data of the experimental study indicate that a significant part of children with intellectual disabilities are characterized by a low level of development of independent reading skills.

Figure 2 shows the levels of self-reading skill development among students with intellectual disabilities that we identified in the course of the study.

Fig. 2. The level of formation of independent reading skills among students with intellectual disabilities

This circumstance indicates the importance and relevance of considering issues related to the search for ways and means of optimizing the work on the formation of independent reading skills in students with intellectual disabilities.

The emergence of independent reading activity is impossible without a strong reading skill. Also, in the work in this direction, it is extremely important to take into account the motivation that determines the reader's activity. The motivational component determines the orientation of the child to communicate with the book. Children's conscious understanding of the value of reading, its necessity in everyday life, the enjoyment of reading contribute to the development of positive motivation for reading, which, in turn, forms the skill of independent reading. nine0003

Research in this direction can be continued. This may be a more detailed study of the formation of the skill of independent reading in students with intellectual disabilities, the search and development of effective methods and techniques of work in the indicated direction.

European system of levels of foreign language proficiency - Department of Foreign Languages ​​

The article was prepared on the basis of the monograph "Common European Competences in Foreign Language Proficiency: Study, Teaching, Assessment", the Russian translation of which was published by the Moscow State Linguistic University (http://www. linguanet. ru/) in 2003

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment

The document of the Council of Europe entitled "Common European Framework of Reference: Learning, Teaching, Assessment" reflects the result of the work begun in 1971 by experts from the countries of the Council of Europe, including and representatives of Russia, to systematize approaches to teaching a foreign language and standardize assessments of language proficiency levels. "Competencies" in an understandable form define what a language learner needs to master in order to use it for communication purposes, as well as what knowledge and skills he needs to master in order for communication to be successful. nine0003

What is the main content of this project carried out within the framework of the Council of Europe? The participants of this project tried to create a standard terminology, a system of units, or a common language to describe what constitutes the subject of study, as well as to describe the levels of language proficiency, regardless of what language is being studied, in what educational context - which country, institute, school , in courses, or privately, and what methods are used. As a result, a system of language proficiency levels and a system for describing these levels using standard categories. These two complexes create a unified network of concepts that can be used to describe any certification system, and, consequently, any training program, in the standard language, from setting goals - learning goals to the competencies achieved as a result of training.

Language proficiency system

When developing the European level system, extensive research was carried out in different countries, assessment methods were tested in practice. As a result, an agreement was reached on the issue of the number of levels allocated for organizing the process of learning the language and assessing the degree of proficiency in it. There are 6 major levels, which represent lower and higher sub-levels in the classic three-level system, which includes basic, intermediate and advanced levels. The level scheme is built on the principle of sequential branching. It begins with the division of the level system into three major levels - A, B and C:

The introduction of a pan-European system of language proficiency levels does not limit the ability of various pedagogical teams to develop and describe their own system of levels and modules of education. However, the use of standardized categories when describing one's programs contributes to the transparency of courses, and the development of objective criteria for assessing the level of language proficiency will ensure recognition of the qualifications obtained by students in examinations. It can also be expected that over time the system of levels and the wording of the descriptors will change as experience accumulates in the countries participating in the project. nine0003

Language proficiency levels are summarized in the following table:

Table 1

When interpreting a level scale, keep in mind that divisions on such a scale are not the same. Even if the levels appear to be equidistant on the scale, they take different times to reach. So, even if Waystage is halfway to Threshold Level, and Threshold is on the level scale halfway to Vantage Level, experience with this scale shows that that it takes twice as long to progress from "Threshold" to "Threshold Advanced" as it takes to reach "Threshold". This is due to the fact that at higher levels the range of activities is expanding and an increasing amount of knowledge, skills and abilities are required. nine0003

More detailed description may be required to select specific learning objectives. It can be presented as a separate table showing the main aspects of language proficiency at six levels. For example, table 2 is designed as a self-assessment tool to identify your knowledge and skills in aspects:

Table 2

A1 (Survival level):

Comprehension	Listening	I can understand single familiar words and very simple phrases in slow and clear speech in everyday situations where people talk about me, my family and my immediate environment.
	Reading	I can understand familiar names, words, and very simple sentences in advertisements, posters, or catalogues.
Speaking	Dialogue	I can take part in a dialogue if my interlocutor repeats or paraphrases what I say in slow motion at my request, and also helps to formulate what I am trying to say. I can ask and answer simple questions about topics that I know or are interested in. nine0063
	Monologue	I can use simple phrases and sentences to talk about the place where I live and the people I know.
Letter	Letter	I can write simple postcards (for example, congratulations on a holiday), fill out forms, enter my name, nationality, address on the hotel registration sheet.

A2 (Pre-threshold):

I understand very short, simple texts. I can find specific, predictable information in simple everyday texts: advertisements, brochures, menus, timetables. I understand simple personal letters. nine0003 Speaking Dialogue

I can communicate in simple, typical situations that require direct exchange of information on topics and activities that are familiar to me. I can carry on an extremely brief conversation on everyday topics, and yet I do not understand enough to carry on a conversation on my own.

I can, using simple phrases and sentences, talk about my family and other people, living conditions, studies, current or previous job. nine0003 Letter Letter

I can write simple short notes and messages. I can write a simple letter of a personal nature (for example, to express my gratitude to someone for something).

B1 (Threshold):

B2 (Threshold Advanced):

C1 (professional level):

Comprehension	Listening	I understand extended messages, even if they have a fuzzy logical structure and insufficiently expressed semantic connections. I can almost fluently understand all television programs and films.
	Reading	I understand large complex non-fiction and fiction texts, their stylistic features. I also understand special articles and long technical instructions, even if they do not relate to my area of ​​work. nine0063
Speaking	Dialogue	I can express my thoughts spontaneously and fluently, without experiencing difficulties in choosing words. My speech is distinguished by the variety of language means and the accuracy of their use in situations of professional and everyday communication. I can accurately formulate my thoughts and express my opinion, as well as actively support any conversation.
	Monologue	I can explain complex topics clearly and in detail, combine parts into a single whole, develop individual provisions and draw appropriate conclusions. nine0063
Letter	Letter	I can express my thoughts clearly and logically in writing and explain my views in detail. I can describe complex problems in detail in letters, essays, reports, highlighting what seems to me the most important. I can use the language style appropriate to the intended recipient.

C2 (Excellence Level):

Comprehension	Listening	I can easily understand any spoken language in direct or indirect communication. I can easily understand the speech of a native speaker speaking at a fast pace, if I have the opportunity to get used to the individual characteristics of his pronunciation.
	Reading	I am fluent in all types of texts, including texts of an abstract nature that are compositionally or linguistically complex: instructions, special articles, and works of fiction. nine0003
Speaking	Dialogue	I can freely participate in any conversation or discussion, and I am fluent in a variety of idiomatic and colloquial expressions. I speak fluently and can express any shades of meaning. If I have difficulties in using language tools, I can quickly and imperceptibly paraphrase my statement.
	Monologue	I can express myself fluently and with reason, using appropriate linguistic means depending on the situation. I can structure my message logically in such a way as to capture the attention of the listeners and help them note and remember the most important points.
Letter	Letter	I can logically and consistently express my thoughts in writing, using the necessary language tools. I can write complex letters, reports, talks or articles that have a clear logical structure that helps the addressee note and remember the most important points. I can write summaries and reviews of both professional and artistic works. nine0003

In practice, one can focus on a certain set of levels and a certain set of categories, depending on specific goals. Such detailing makes it possible to compare training modules with each other and with the system of common European competencies.

Instead of identifying the categories that underlie speech activity, it may be necessary to evaluate language behavior on the basis of individual aspects of communicative competence. For example, table 3 was developed by to assess speaking , so it focuses on qualitatively different aspects of language use:

Table 3

A1 (Survival level):

RANGE	Possesses a very limited vocabulary of words and phrases that serve to present information about oneself and to describe specific private situations.
ACCURACY	Limited control over the use of a few simple grammatical and syntactic structures memorized. nine0063
FLUENESS	Can express himself very briefly, utter individual statements, mostly made up of memorized units. Makes many pauses to find the right expression, pronounce less familiar words, correct mistakes.
ACTION	Can ask personal questions and talk about himself. Can respond elementarily to the speech of the interlocutor, but in general, communication depends on repetition, paraphrasing and correcting mistakes. nine0063
CONNECTIVITY	Can connect words and groups of words with simple linear conjunctions such as "and", "then".

A2 (Pre-threshold):

RANGE	Uses elementary syntactic structures with learned constructions, collocations and standard expressions to convey limited information in simple everyday situations. nine0003
ACCURACY	Uses some simple structures correctly, but still systematically makes elementary mistakes.
FLUENESS	Can express himself intelligibly in very short sentences, although pauses, self-corrections, and reformulation of sentences are directly evident.
ACTION	Can answer questions and respond to simple statements. Can show when he/she is still following the interlocutor's thought, but very rarely understands enough to carry on a conversation on his own. nine0063
CONNECTIVITY	Can connect groups of words with simple conjunctions such as "and", "but", "because".

B1 (Threshold):

RANGE	Has sufficient language skills to take part in a conversation; vocabulary allows you to explain yourself with a number of pauses and descriptive expressions on topics such as family, hobbies, hobbies, work, travel and current events. nine0003
PRECISION	Fairly accurate use of a set of constructs associated with familiar, regularly occurring situations.
FLUENESS	Can speak clearly, despite the fact that pauses for searching for grammatical and lexical means are noticeable, especially in statements of considerable length.
ACTION	Can start, maintain, and end a one-on-one conversation if the topics of discussion are familiar or individually meaningful. Can repeat previous lines to demonstrate understanding. nine0063
CONNECTIVITY	Can link several fairly short sentences into a linear text consisting of several paragraphs.

B2 (Threshold Advanced):

C1 (professional level):

C2 (Excellence):

The levels evaluation tables discussed above are based on a bank of "illustrative descriptors" developed and tested in practice, and subsequently graded into levels during the course of a research project. Descriptor scales are based on a detailed to the category system to describe what language proficiency/use means and who can be called a language proficient/user.

The description is based on the activity approach . It establishes the relationship between language use and language learning. Users and language learners are considered as subjects social activities , i.e. members of the society who solve tasks , (not necessarily related to language) in certain conditions , in a certain situation , in a certain area of ​​activity . Speech activity is carried out in a wider social context, which determines the true meaning of the statement. The activity approach makes it possible to take into account the entire range of personal characteristics of a person as a subject of social activity, primarily cognitive, emotional and volitional resources. Thus, any form of language usage and its studies can be described in the following terms :

• Competencies represent the sum of knowledge, skills and personal qualities that allow a person to perform various actions. nine0921
• General competencies are not linguistic, they provide any activity, including communication.
• Communicative language competencies allow you to carry out activities using language tools.
• Context is a spectrum of events and situational factors against which communicative actions are carried out.
• Speech activity is the practical application of communicative competence in a certain area of ​​communication in the process of perception and / or generation of oral and written texts, aimed at performing a specific communicative task. nine0921
• Types of communicative activity involve the implementation of communicative competence in the process of semantic processing / creation (perception or generation) of one or more texts in order to solve the communicative task of communication in a certain field of activity.
• Text - is a coherent sequence of oral and / or written statements (discourse), the generation and understanding of which occurs in a specific area of ​​communication and is aimed at solving a specific problem. nine0921
• Under the sphere of communication refers to a wide range of social life in which social interaction is carried out. In relation to language learning, educational, professional, social and personal spheres are distinguished here.
• Strategy is a course of action chosen by a person to solve a problem.
• Task is a purposeful action necessary to obtain a specific result (solving a problem, fulfilling obligations, or achieving a goal). nine0921

Concept of multilingualism

The concept of multilingualism is central to the approach of the Council of Europe to the problem of language learning. Multilingualism arises as a person's linguistic experience expands in the cultural aspect from the language used in the family to mastering the languages ​​of other peoples (learned at school, college or directly in the language environment). A person “does not store” these languages ​​separately from each other, but forms communicative competence on the basis of all knowledge and all language experience, where languages ​​are interconnected and interact. According to the situation, the individual freely uses any part of this competence to ensure successful communication with a particular interlocutor. For example, partners can move freely from one language or dialect to another, demonstrating the ability of each to express an idea in one language and understand in another. A person can use multilingualism to understand text, written or spoken, in a language they did not previously know, recognizing words that sound and are spelled similarly in multiple languages ​​in a "new form". nine0003

From this point of view, the goal of language education is changing. Now the perfect (at the level of a native speaker) mastery of one or two, or even three languages, taken separately from each other, is not the goal. The goal is to develop such a linguistic repertoire, where there is a place for all linguistic skills. The latest developments in the language program of the Council of Europe are aimed at developing a tool with which language teachers will contribute to the development of a multilingual personality.

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