Many of my children are at grade level on the DRA. Some kids fall down
on the written component if they have never done it before or if they
are struggling writers. We used to use a-z but the district moved to
the DRA. We still use a-z as a progress monitoring tool for some kids.
I feel that DRA is a little more challenging than a-z at least for 4th
graders.
Sue
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group
<[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Sent: Tue, Sep 14, 2010 4:38 pm
Subject: [MOSAIC] DRA Levels & A-Z levels.
Our district began using thr 'A-Z' reading assessments last year I'm
wondering how reliabe the tool is. Does anyone else have experience
with this tool? If yes, do you find that students generally fall
within, above or below the 'grade level' range as identified by A-Z?
Also, I know a lot of districts use DRA. Do those of you who use DRA
find that, on average, your 5th grade students (for example) generally
score within the 5th grade range? Or are many below/ above?
I look forward to learning about your experiences.
Sandy.
Sent from my iPhone
On Sep 14, 2010, at 1:04 PM, [email protected] wrote:
I know that many teachers have abandoned the DRA because it can be >
time consuming especially in the upper grades. There is a written >
component for grades 4 and up (grade 3 has an optional one I >
believe). Even though it may take some students about an hour to >
complete, I feel that the information I get about the students is >
crucial to drive my instruction. I don't really like that the >
engagement piece is worth so many points but I take that into >
consideration when looking at it. Our district uses the WIDDA for > ELL
assessment.
Sue
-----Original Message-----
From: Hoffmann Dale Marie <[email protected]>
To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group
<[email protected]> >
Sent: Tue, Sep 14, 2010 6:41 am
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] data collection for analysis
What ELL assessment do you give your ELL's.
Dale Marie
On Sep 13, 2010, at 8:26 PM, Valerie Vitalo wrote:
Just curious as to why districts have abandoned DRA's. We give the >
DRA-2 3 times per year in grades k-5 We give phonological > >
awareness tests and sightword inventories to all of our kidin > >
1,2,and 3 and in K later on in the year. We have periodic writing > >
assessments with district-wide prompts that match a writing calendar >
> for units for the district. Teacher give running records to > >
students when they are considering moving to the next guided reading >
> level. There is an ELL evaluation at the beginning and end of year >
> also. They continually add asessments. Classroom teachers do some > >
of it and the lit team for the building does the rest. We get a > >
really comprehensive picture of these little guys before we group > >
and continually regroup as necessary.
--- On Sun, 9/12/10, Jan Sanders <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Jan Sanders <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] data collection for analysis
To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group"
<[email protected]> >
Date: Sunday, September 12, 2010, 6:46 PM
In our district the teacher gives a running record to each student
and
submits the data to the principal.
Plusses and minuses for teacher or team to assess. Teacher knows the
student as a reader instantly after the assessment, but not all >
teachers
administer it the same, although there was a major training 6 years
ago.
Each year they are given the criteria, a reminder of how to assess,
and can
watch a video of a lit coach giving the assessment.
Jan
You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to
your
grandmother.
-Albert Einstein
On Sat, Sep 11, 2010 at 12:00 AM, Betsy Lafontant
<[email protected]>wrote:
My school using a fairly low-tech but effective means of assessing
the
students' reading progress. At the start of the year, the Student
Support
Services team (which consisted of ESOL, Learning Support, and the
school
counselor) tested the reading abilities of each child in our >>
elementary
school using a running record. The tester started where the >>
student tested
out at then of last year or for new students, where the classroom
teacher
believes is the student's reading level. It took two intense weeks
for the
SSS team and lots of pullouts for the classroom teacher. But at >>>
the end we
had a comprehensive data on each child's reading levels. This >>
process is
repeated at the end of the year to track progress and to reflect
on our
teaching practice and methods.
This is the third year my school is doing this. The first year it
was a
bit
of a mess because some testers had different "lens" on when they
were
testing. Some put more emphasis on fluency while others only >>
tested for
comprehension. In the second year, the testing team met every day
to
discuss the process, streamline and normalize their practice. In >>
the third
year, this process is sleek, fast and the end product, the data, is
extremely valuable to the classroom teacher.
For writing, we have a writing test. With a common prompt, each >>
child
writes a story. No names are on the writing test. Then the >>
writing tests
are divided among the classroom teachers and are scored using a >>
rubric
based
on the 6 traits (ideas, sentence fluency, mechanics, voice, >>
organization
and
word choice). This data is collected and used to drive the
classroom
instruction for each child. Like the reading, this process is >>
repeated
towards the end of the year.
On Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 11:06 PM, Jeana Wise >>
<[email protected]
wrote:
What types of data does your schools collect for anaylsis? My >>>
district is
using Aimsweb, but I am thinking that other forms of data may be
helpful
when looking at interventions for our struggling students. My >>>
district no
longer gives the DRA, either.
Jeana Wise
K-4 Literacy Coach
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
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