Hello all, I teach at a public high school that uses reading writing workshop for literacy with 9th and 10th graders, aside from their regular Humanities classes. For our baseline reading assessment, we use the Qualitative Reading Inventory-4. Upside: it tells us a _lot_ about the decoding, comprehension, vocabulary levels of students, and is especially helpful in that it encompasses a wide range of reading levels and allows us to identify students who are reading anywhere from a kindergarden to high school level. Downside: it is terribly time consuming! I saw Dr Alfred Tatum (author of Teaching Literacy to Black Adolescent Males) mention the Gates-McGinty test at a seminar he gave and am interested in how the two compare, though I am not sure how we as an individual school could obtain it?
We also administer a writing baseline at the beginning of the year and score them using a rubric designed using the 6 + 1 traits of writing. For the incoming 9th graders, they can write whatever they want; the 10th graders are asked to write to a persuasive prompt; and the 11th graders write a response to literature using a quote that determines their controlling idea/thesis. Our school district (New York City) has recently begun to offer different kinds of tests -- an adaptable, that lets you know the student's level no matter where it is, and others that let you know how students progress on a grade level test. At the moment, our school is one that is not obligated to take this test. The adaptable sounds like the Gates McGinty and perhaps like a faster QRI, though I'd like to know how the system works first before opting in. And, unfortunately, we are also waiting to see if and how the school district uses that information to judge schools and individual teachers. I am very interested in hearing how other schools do this; we start this tomorrow! Happy beginnings to us all, Erica Doyle Literacy Coach Vanguard High School, NYC On 9/3/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > We use a Gates-McGinite test for vocab and comprehension.? It also gives a > relative grade level. ? Our 6th graders come from 6 sending schools plus we > get quite a few kids that are new to the district.? We use it as a quick > flash assessment because we often have no records on some of these kids.? > The Gates can be done whole class and is on a scantron for quick grading.?? > It also is 20 minutes for the vocabulary and 35 for the comprehension.? We > compare this to?the state test, looking for either confirmation or > discrepancies.? Although I'm not sure how accurate the test is, but it gives > us a starting point and a little focus for our immediate problems.? > > We?also have the kids write a persuasive letter to their new principal > recommending one of their summer reading books.?? > > This usually gives me a pretty good overlook of my 100 or so students.? Is > it perfect?? No... I'm looking for something that gives me a better picture > without doing individual testing and taking too much time. > > > Karen Onyx > Carusi Middle School > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Bill IVEY <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Mon, 3 Sep 2007 4:46 pm > Subject: [LIT] baseline assessment - various models > > > > Hi! > > Karen's got a good point - with many schools already in session, and most > others starting shortly (that's my school), bumping the baseline > assessment discussion forward makes a good deal of sense. In fact, while > we're still revising our "topics for the year" list, let's get started > right now. > > So how do you all handle baseline assessments? What do you see as the > advantages and/or disadvantages of your system? In an ideal world, what > (if anything) would you be doing differently? > > Take care, > Bill Ivey > Stoneleigh-Burnham School > > > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - > http://mail.aol.com > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
