The Monster in the Classroom: Assessing Language to Inform Instruction

Abstract

The authors describe Monster, P.I., which is an app‐based, gamified assessment that measures language skills (knowledge of morphology, vocabulary, and syntax) of students in grades 5–8 and provides teachers with interpretable score reports to drive instruction that improves vocabulary, reading, and writing ability. Specifically, the authors describe why an assessment of language is important to include, the components of language that are assessed by Monster, P.I., and how Monster, P.I., uses gamification to add enjoyment and motivation to the assessment experience. The authors then explain how to use Monster, P.I., to inform instructional decisions, specifically explaining the overall instructional framework, what each score means, and examples of instruction that link to each area assessed by the app. Links to Common Core State Standards are included. The authors conclude by sharing teachers’ feedback on the assessment and how they used it to support instruction in their classrooms.

Multidimensional morphological assessment for middle school students

“…Across the 3 years of the study, we worked in an urban district in the Southeastern United States (Goodwin et al, 2020, in press). To answer our first question regarding dimensionality, we used a sample of 3,214 fifth through eighth graders ( N = 1,026 fifth graders, 742 sixth graders, 715 seventh graders and 731 eighth graders) learning in the classrooms of 15, 38 and 37 teachers in Years 1, 2 and 3, respectively.…”

Updating Practice Recommendations: Taking Stock of 12 Years of Adolescent Literacy Research

“…To accompany intervention research, researchers have been developing assessments that can help middle and high schools design interventions for students with disabilities—and their non‐identified peers who need extra literacy support. Computer‐adaptive assessments such as ReadReady (formerly RISE; O’Reilly et al, 2014) and Monster, PI (Goodwin et al, 2020) are better able to target adolescents’ precise literacy needs in areas such as decoding, morphology, or vocabulary. Better assessment can lead to better intervention.…”

Analysing the Relationship between Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension of Learners at Early Childhood Education

“…Decoding is the ability to see words and recognize their separate and grouped sounds, understand the sentence structure and understanding the cues in sentences to make a meaning of whole sentence or paragraph (Tankersley, 2003). Decoding is a complex process of understanding and knowing the sounds of words, link between sentences and words in text (Goodwin, 2020). In reading comprehension, readers understand the parts of speech and have knowledge about the verbs and helping verbs used in construction of the sentence.…”

“…Fluency of a reader represents efficient skills of reading comprehension. Reading fluently is the key for comprehension (Goodwin, 2020). Fluency is only possible when a reader understands the meaning of text.…”