Use of a measure of reading comprehension to enhance prediction on the state high stakes assessment

Abstract

The current study examined the diagnostic accuracy of two screening measures of risk for future difficulties in reading comprehension, as well as the degree to which adding a screening measure of reading comprehension enhanced the prediction of Oral Reading Fluency to outcomes of student reading performance on the state high stakes assessment for grades 3 through 5. Data from fall and winter assessments of the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (DORF) and 4Sight Benchmark Assessment (4Sight) measures along with outcomes on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) across a total of 1000 students from 6 schools were examined using indices of diagnostic efficiency, ROC curve, and logistic regression analyses. Results showed that the addition of a measure of reading comprehension (4Sight) to DORF enhanced the decision making process for identifying students at risk for reading difficulties, especially for those students at higher elementary grades and those who achieved benchmark levels on the DORF. Although DORF alone showed a good level of prediction to the statewide assessment, the combination of the DORF plus 4Sight measures resulted consistently in the best predictive outcomes. Suggestions are made to consider alternative cut points for the DORF and 4Sight measures. Keywords RTI; Reading comprehension; Oral reading fluencyResults of statewide assessment, often called high-stakes testing, have important implications for districts, teachers, and individual students that impact district level decision making and policy. Usually administered once during the school year, statewide assessments do not provide information about student growth over shorter time periods and provide even less information to guide effective instruction for students who are at-risk (Shephard, 2000). The value and potential impact placed on high-stakes testing has encouraged school districts to put into place more frequent monitoring of student academic outcomes during the school year to identify those students potentially at risk for not reaching proficiency levels prior to the administration of the high-stakes test. Such identification could allow districts to put in place programs to focus instruction for such students in areas that would improve student outcomes on the high-stakes test.

Programa de remediação fonológica em escolares com dificuldades de aprendizagem

“…Participants in the G1 had a statistically significant difference between pre-testing and post-testing on (29) which noted that efficient decoding relieves the cognitive load, allowing more attention to be directed to comprehension. Literature (30) has indicated that reading comprehension is based on working memory.…”

Using Reading Rate and Comprehension CBM to Predict High-Stakes Achievement

“…With the recent implementation of RTI models, school personnel are accumulating multiple measures of progress (data points from CBMs) over the course of an academic year. Researchers have investigated their utility for instructional planning and their power to predict student performance on end-of-year achievement tests (Crawford, Tindal, & Stieber, 2001;Helwig & Tindal, 1999;Marcotte & Hintze, 2009;Nolet & McLaughlin, 1997;Reschly, Busch, Betts, Deno, & Long, 2009;Shapiro, Keller, Lutz, Santoro, & Hintze, 2006;Shapiro, Solari, & Petscher, 2008;Silberglitt & Hintze, 2005;Wiley & Deno, 2005;Wood, 2006). Both ORF and reading comprehension measures (e.g., maze, retell fluency) have been used to predict performance on statewide achievement tests.…”

“…Several researchers have found evidence for the predictive utility of reading CBM (Crawford et al, 2001;Marcotte & Hintze, 2009;Reschly et al, 2009;Shapiro et al, 2006;Shapiro et al, 2008;Silberglitt & Hintze, 2005;Wiley & Deno, 2005;Wood, 2006). Crawford et al (2001) found that 100% of students who obtained a reading rate of 72 words per minute or more on CBM reading assessments in second grade were able to pass the statewide reading achievement test in third grade.…”

A Conceptual Model for Evaluating System Effects of Response to Intervention

“…Those falling below the cut point are viewed as having high probabilities of subsequent challenge and struggles. Although the selected cut points will always have false positives and false negatives, the use of empirically derived cut points that have demonstrated relationships to desired outcomes on criterion measures (i.e., statewide assessment, performance at subsequent grades) will produce the smallest number of these incorrect predicted decisions (Good, Simmons, & Kame'enui, 2001;Shapiro, Solari, & Petscher, 2008).…”

“…Although risk level related to ORF in analyzing RTI models is certainly important, one also needs to look beyond ORF as additional metrics can enhance diagnostic decision making, especially for students in Grade 3 and later. Shapiro et al (2008) and Clemens and Shapiro (2008) demonstrated that for older elementary students, the decisions can be enhanced by adding data from a measure of reading comprehension in addition to ORF data. Given that ORF can begin to lose its sensitivity to reflect outcomes for older elementary and middle school students (Catts, Hogan, & Adlof, 2005;Gough & Tunmer, 1986;Silberglitt, Burns, Madyun, & Lail, 2006), the risk levels reflected through measures beyond ORF also need to be considered when examining the impact of RTI models.…”