Classroom Literacy Assessment
Making Sense of What Students Know and Do
Edited by Jeanne R. Paratore and Rachel L. McCormack
Paperback
Paperback
orderApril 5, 2007
ISBN 9781593854386
Price: $42.00 332 Pages
Size: 7" x 10"
Showcasing assessment practices that can help teachers plan effective instruction, this book addresses the real-world complexities of teaching literacy in grades K-8. Leading contributors present trustworthy approaches that examine learning processes as well as learning products, that yield information on how the learning environment can be improved, and that are conducted in the context of authentic reading and writing activities. The volume provides workable, nuts-and-bolts ideas for incorporating assessment into instruction in all major literacy domains and with diverse learners, including students in high-poverty schools and those with special learning needs. It is illustrated throughout with helpful concrete examples.
“What a wonderful book! Paratore and McCormack have assembled a collection of 'must-read' chapters that hone in on best practices in classroom literacy assessment, cutting through the fog of testing mandates and poor practice with the clarifying intensity of a laser. These pages are packed with checklists, vignettes, exemplars, rubrics, insights, good ideas, and helpful findings. Readers may not agree with everything they read here, but it’s hard to find a page that doesn’t help one to better make sense of children’s learning. This is definitely the smart teachers’ guide to literacy assessment.”
—Timothy Shanahan, PhD, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Chicago
“A wise teacher sees through the frowns, smiles, and furrowed brows to see into the hearts and minds of students. This volume, likewise, sees beyond test scores to address fundamental issues in assessing children’s reading accomplishments. The stellar contributing authors rise to the challenge of identifying best practices in classroom assessment across a wide spectrum of grades and abilities. They share a respect for teachers and an understanding of what a complex undertaking it is to assess, diagnose, and record each child’s developing proficiency, while simultaneously implementing and adapting individualized instruction. The common theme is how assessment can promote deeper learning through reflection, guidance, and mutual inquiry as teachers and students work together. A 'must read' for preservice teachers, this volume also provides expert analyses that can stimulate a graduate seminar or a school-based reform initiative with seasoned teachers.”
—Scott G. Paris, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan
“The most comprehensive and thorough examination of classroom-based literacy assessment that I have seen. The contributors provide a necessary balance between research and best practice, identifying and clarifying the principles of effective assessment with the goal of improving teaching and learning. This book is particularly timely, as teachers nationwide are faced with preparing their students each year for mandated, external, and high-stakes testing. Classroom Literacy Assessment clearly places assessment back in the hands of teachers and their students. It should be read and discussed by teachers, specialists, and administrators in preschool through middle school to revisit the purpose of assessment and its relation to meaningful learning. It would serve well as a core text in any course on effective literacy assessment.”
—Mary E. Matthews, EdD, Curriculum Coordinator for K-8 Language Arts, Brookline (Massachusetts) Public Schools
“Classroom Literacy Assessment compels practitioners to analyze and challenge the symbiotic relationship that exists between literacy instruction and assessment. From noted authorities, the book helps teachers become more knowledgeable and attentive in their development of comprehensive reading programs grounded in best practice. Paratore and McCormack have designed an educator's collectible, a 'must read' for any practitioner who influences a child's literacy life between preschool and eighth grade.”
—Lyn Rivet, MEd, consulting teacher of reading, Sippican School, Marion, Massachusetts
Table of Contents
I. Foundations for Trustworthy Classroom Assessment of Children's Literacy Knowledge1. Inquiry-Oriented Assessment, Sheila W. Valencia
2. A Pathway for Connecting Standards with Assessment: Backward Mapping of Assessment Tasks, Mark W. Conley and Kristine Gritter
3. Promoting and Assessing Effective Literacy Learning Classroom Environments, D. Ray Reutzel and Lesley Mandel Morrow
4. Assessing Children's Motivation for Reading and Writing, Linda B. Gambrell and Victoria Ridgeway Gillis
II. Assessing Word Knowledge and Reading Fluency
5. Language and Literacy Assessment in Preschool, Lea M. McGee
6. Assessing Word Recognition, David Chard, Sara McDonagh, Sangeun Lee, and Virginia Reece
7. Effective Oral Reading Assessment (or Why Round Robin Reading Doesn't Cut It), Melanie R. Kuhn
8. Assessing Students' Spelling Knowledge: Relationships to Reading and Writing, Shane Templeton, Donald R. Bear, and Sandra Madura
III. Assessing Comprehension and Composition
9. Assessing Vocabulary: Examining Knowledge about Words and about Word Learning, Janis M. Harmon, Wanda B. Hedrick, Lina Soares, and Michelle Gress
10. Assessing Literacy Understanding through Book Talk, Nancy L. Roser with Charles Fuhrken and Peggy Semingson
11. Assessing Strategic Reading, Peter Afflerbach, Heather Ruetschlin, and Sharon Russell
12. Assessing Students' Understanding of Informational Text in Intermediate- and Middle-Level Classrooms, Karen D. Wood, D. Bruce Taylor, Brenda Drye, and M. Joyce Brigman
13. Assessing Student Writing, Karen Bromley
IV. Broadening the Context: Looking across Assessments, Classrooms, and Schools
14. A Classroom Portfolio System: Assessment Is Instruction, Susan Mandel Glazer
15. Formative Uses of Assessment: Cases from the Primary Grades, Camille L. Z. Blachowicz, Roberta Buhle, Sharon Frost, and Ann Bates
16. Authentic Assessment of Authentic Student Work in Urban Classrooms, Kathryn Glasswell and William H. Teale
17. Putting CIA System to Work: Linking Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment to Improve Student Achievement, Douglas Fisher, Diane Lapp, Nancy Frey, James Flood, and Kelly Moore
18. Developing an Individualized Education Plan: What Counts as Evidence?, Rachel L. McCormack, P. David Pearson, and Jeanne R. Paratore
19. Classroom Assessment and Standards-Based Change, Kathryn Au and Taffy Raphael
About the Editors
Jeanne R. Paratore, EdD, is Associate Professor of Education at Boston University, where she teaches courses in literacy, language, and cultural studies. From 1989 to 1997 she was an integral member of the Boston University/Chelsea, Massachusetts, Public School Partnership, a comprehensive urban school reform effort, in which she focused her efforts on improving classroom literacy instruction and building strong home-school partnerships. She was a core advisor to Teaching Reading, K-2, A Video Library of Effective Classroom Practices, a project funded by the Annenberg Foundation and produced by WGBH television. At present, Dr. Paratore works with school-based literacy leaders in Lowell, Massachusetts, to support effective instruction in classrooms throughout the city. She has written articles and book chapters about family literacy, classroom grouping practices, and classroom assessment.Rachel McCormack, EdD, is an Associate Professor of Literacy Education at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. Her research interests include effective strategies for teaching comprehension using flexible grouping. Recent investigations have focused on finding ways to prepare preservice teachers to teach in diverse urban settings. A frequent presenter at national conferences, Rachel has coauthored and coedited several publications with Jeanne Paratore.
Contributors
Peter Afflerbach, PhD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, MarylandKathryn Au, PhD, Standards Network of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii
Anne Bates, EdD, National College of Education, National-Louis University, Chicago, Illinois
Donald R. Bear, PhD, Center for Learning and Literacy, Department of Educational Specialties, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada
Camille L. Z. Blachowicz, PhD, National College of Education, National-Louis University, Chicago, Illinois
M. Joyce Brigman, MEd, doctoral student in Curriculum and Instruction, Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education, College of Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina; Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, North Carolina
Karen Bromley, PhD, School of Education, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York
Roberta Buhle, EdD, National College of Education, National-Louis University, Chicago, Illinois
David Chard, PhD, Special Education Area, College of Education, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
Mark W. Conley, PhD, Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
Brenda Drye, MEd, doctoral student in Curriculum and Instruction, Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education, College of Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina; Union County Schools, North Carolina
Douglas Fisher, PhD, School of Teacher Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
James Flood, PhD, School of Teacher Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
Nancy Frey, PhD, School of Teacher Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
Sharon Frost, EdD, National College of Education, National-Louis University, Chicago, Illinois
Charles Fuhrken, MA, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
Linda B. Gambrell, PhD, Eugene T. Moore School of Education, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina
Victoria Ridgeway Gillis, PhD, Eugene T. Moore School of Education, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina
Kathryn Glasswell, PhD, Literacy, Language and Culture Program, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Susan Mandel Glazer, EdD, Department of Graduate Education, Counseling, and Leadership, Rider University, Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Michelle Gress, BA, Kirby Middle School, San Antonio, Texas
Kristine Gritter, (PhD cand.), Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
Janis M. Harmon, PhD, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas
Wanda B. Hedrick, PhD, Department of Childhood Education, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida
Melanie R. Kuhn, PhD, Department of Learning and Teaching, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Diane Lapp, EdD, School of Teacher Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
Sangeun Lee, PhD candidate, Special Education Area, College of Education, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
Sandra Madura, PhD, Washoe County School District, Reno, Nevada
Rachel L. McCormack, EdD, Department of Literacy Education, School of Education, Roger Williams University, Bristol, Rhode Island
Sara McDonagh, PhD, School of Teacher Education, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia
Lea M. McGee, EdD, College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Kelly Moore, PhD, San Diego City Schools, San Diego, California
Lesley Mandel Morrow, PhD, Department of Learning and Teaching, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Jeanne R. Paratore, EdD, Department of Literacy and Language, Counseling and Development, School of Education, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
P. David Pearson, PhD, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
Taffy Raphael, PhD, College of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Virginia Reece, PhD, Blumberg Center, College of Education, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana
Heather Ruetschlin, MEd, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, Maryland
D. Ray Reutzel, PhD, Emma Eccles Jones Early Childhood Center, Utah State University, Logan, Utah
Nancy L. Roser, EdD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
Sharon Russell, PhD, School of Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Peggy Semingson, MA, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
Lina Soares, doctoral student in Curriculum and Instruction, Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education, College of Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina
D. Bruce Taylor, PhD, College of Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina
William H. Teale, EdD, Literacy, Language and Culture Program, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Shane Templeton, PhD, Center for Learning and Literacy, Department of Educational Specialties, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada
Sheila W. Valencia, PhD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Karen D. Wood, PhD, College of Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina