Chapter
9 (Pg.5) – Selecting "Tutor-Friendly"
Reading Resources
Standardised
Reading Tests:
Overview:
When
used in conjunction with class based
reading tests, standardised reading
tests are a useful tool to assess
specific reading skills including
word recognition and word meaning,
understanding of sentence structure
and general comprehension. Different
tests will test different aspects
of reading and provide different data.
Some are useful for assessing groups
of children and some are useful for
giving a detailed analysis of an individual
child’s reading.
Standardised reading tests can be
used for a variety of purposes such
as:
• |
Grouping
children by similar stanine
or reading age; |
• |
Identifying
children who need extra help; |
• |
Diagnose
specific difficulties in individual
children; |
• |
Identifying
children who are under achieving; |
• |
Validating
teachers’ judgements about
a child’s reading abilities. |
Standardised
tests used for individual assessment
are also useful as a diagnostic tool.
That is, they analyse where a child’s
strengths and weaknesses are.
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|
Tests
reviewed are:
-
STAR
- GRT II
- Waddington
- Screening and Assessment
Procedures |
|
|
STAR
- Supplementary Test of Achievement
in Reading:
(By
NZCER - New Zealand Council For Educational
Research)
Description
of program:
STAR is a group reading test
for Year three to year 5 in Australia
and Year 4 to Year 6 in New Zealand.
• |
It
is a group reading test and
can be easily administered to
a whole class. |
• |
There
are two parallel tests, Form
A and Form B. |
• |
There
are four sub-tests which include |
| |
-
word recognition
- sentence comprehension
- paragraph comprehension (cloze
procedure)
- vocabulary range |
• |
Each
subtest is timed; total test
time is 30 minutes. |
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What we like about STAR:
• |
The
four subtests assesses a number
of different reading skills. |
• |
The
manual describes the way in
which teachers can use the tests
to analyse results and provide
classroom programs to improve
the children’s reading. |
| |
• |
Having
parallel tests is an asset.
It allows for reliable retesting. |
• |
Although
there are four subtests, administering
the test only takes about 20
minutes altogether. This means
that children do not tire. |
| |
• |
The
test was published in 2000,
so the language is modern. |
Other
considerations:
STAR is useful for:
• |
Identifying
children who need further testing
and assistance; |
•
|
Identifying
children who need extension; |
• |
Identifying
children who may be underachieving; |
•
|
Grouping
children within the class for
reading. |
Where
can I buy STAR?:
Acer
Press
347 Camberwell Road,
Camberwell, Victoria, 3124.
Ph: (03) 9835-7447
Fax: (03) 9835-7499
Details on: http://www.acerpress.com.au
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|
How
much does STAR cost?:
$50.00 - Specimen
test containing one of each
component.
Test booklet $13.20
for a pack of ten.
|
GRT
II - Group Reading Test 2:
(Published
by NFER-Nelson)
Description
of program:
The GRT II is a group reading
test which can easily be used with
a whole class. It can be used with
children who are aged between 6 years
and 14 years.
There
are six tests available which are
used in pairs.
• |
Form
A and Form B are parallel sentence
completion tests for children
aged 6:0 to 12:03. |
| |
• |
Form
C and Form D are parallel sentence
completion tests for children
aged 9:0 to 15:03. |
| |
• |
Form
X and Form Y are parallel context
comprehension tests (cloze passage)
for children aged 9:0 to 15:03. |
| |
| • |
Untimed,
but approximately 30 minutes to
administer |
| |
|
The
manual is comprehensive and contains
tables which provide a variety of
ways of interpreting results- standardised
scores, percentile ranks, reading
ages.
Australian
norms are available. These were collected
in November 1999.
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What we like about GRT II:
• |
Because
they cover a wide age range
the tests are useful in most
primary school grades. |
| |
• |
Having
paired tests works well.
For example, Form A can be given
at the beginning of the year
and Form B at the end of the
year. Alternatively, Form A
and Form B can be used to avoid
copying. Alternate test forms
can be given to children who
sit next to each other. Keep
a record of which children have
completed which test so that
the other test can be given
at the end of the year. |
| |
| |
| |
| |
• |
There
are two styles of test format
available. This allows
for flexibility of testing and
can provide additional information
about a child’s performance. |
| |
• |
The
language used is up to date.
It is important that children’s
reading skills are assessed
using language that is currently
used. |
| |
Other
considerations:
GRT II is not a diagnostic
test. It is useful for
• |
Identifying
children who need further testing
and assistance; |
• |
Identifying
children who need extension |
• |
Identifying
children who may be underachieving |
• |
Grouping
children within the class for
reading |
•
|
Matching
children to text that is levelled
by reading age (eg Rainbow
Readers) |
Where
can I buy
GRT II?:
Acer
Press
347 Camberwell Road,
Camberwell, Victoria, 3124.
Ph: (03) 9835-7447
Fax: (03) 9835-7499
Details
on: http://www.acerpress.com.au
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|
How
much does
GRT II cost?:
Starter set which
includes the manual and one
test package (eg Forms A&B)
costs $85
Additional
forms cost $27.50 per
pack of 10
|
Waddington
Diagnostic Reading & Spelling
Tests 1 & 2:
Description
of program:
Waddington
Diagnostic Reading and Spelling Tests
1 & 2 are presented in a single
book. Within the book are two parallel
reading tests and two parallel spelling
tests. Reading and spelling ages are
provided.
There
are also Special Education Student
Assessment forms which provide procedures
for further diagnostic assessment
of a child who has performed poorly
on the original tests. These forms
cover a variety of aspects of a child’s
development including physical and
emotional as well as specific reading
and spelling skills.
Waddington
Diagnostic Reading and Spelling Tests
1 & 2 replaces the original Waddington
testing program. The reading and spelling
ages have been updated based on a
1999 sample of students.
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What
we like about the program:
• |
Being
able to use two tests provides
flexibility in testing
.One can be used at the beginning
of the year and one at the end
of the year. If a child performs
well below expectations, the
second test can be administered,
keeping in mind that there may
have been unknown contributing
factors to poor performance
on the day of the test. |
| |
| |
| |
• |
The
tests can be used for a whole
class or for individual children. |
• |
The
tests are diagnostic.
In the manual, each of the reading
tests and spelling tests is
broken into chunks and an analysis
of skills being tested is provided. |
| |
• |
Suggestions
of further diagnostic strategies
are provided once a child has
been identified as performing
poorly in reading and/or spelling. |
| |
• |
Having
a variety of tests in the same
book is convenient and compact. |
• |
It
is an Australian testing program. |
Other
considerations:
Waddington Diagnostic Reading
and Spelling Tests are useful for:
• |
Identifying
children who need assistance
in learning to read and spell; |
• |
Diagnosing
areas of weakness in children’s
reading and spelling skills; |
• |
Identifying
children who need extension; |
• |
Identifying
underachievers; |
• |
Grouping
children for reading and spelling. |
• |
Waddington
Diagnostic Reading Tests are
useful to match children to
texts which have been levelled
by reading age (eg Rainbow
Readers). |
| |
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Where
can I buy Waddington Diagnostics?:
Waddington
Educational Resources Pty Ltd
11 Walsh Ave
Strathalbyn, South Australia, 5255
See
the website below for information
on other resources by Waddington.
E-mail:
wadd@wadd.net.au
Homepage:
www.wadd.com.au
Phone:
(08) 8536-8000
Fax: (08) 8536-8001
|
How
much does Waddington
Diagnostics cost?
$49.95
|
Screening
& Assessment Procedures:
(Collated
by STLDs of Bathurst Educational Resource
Centre)
Description
of Package:
This is a compilation of tests which
can be used for reading, spelling
and maths from Kindergarten to Year
7. Some tests are printed in complete
form in the book. Otherwise a sample
of the test is given so that the reader
can preview the format and decide
whether to make further enquiries.
The package was designed to be used
by STLDs, but classroom teachers would
find it useful too.
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Some of the tests included or described
are:
• |
Armidale
or Johnson's Sight Word Lists |
• |
TAAS
(Rosner) Test of Auditory Analysis
Skills |
• |
Phonemic
Awareness Test |
• |
Holborn
Reading Scale |
• |
Macquarie
University Developmental Word
Family Spelling Program |
• |
South
Australian Spelling Test |
• |
Neal
Phonemic Skills Screening Test |
There
are many others.
What
we like about the package:
• It covers a broad range of
areas.
• It has been compiled by STLDs
who have used the tests with success.
• It is inexpensive.
Where
can I buy Screening And Assessment
Procedures?:
Bathurst Learning Difficulties Support
Centre
PO Box 702
Bathurst, NSW, 2795
Ph: (02) 6334-8200
|
How
much does Screening And Assessment
Procedures cost?
$27.50
Excellent
value for money!!
|
