Assessments in Learning Disabilities Lecture 8 PDF

Assessments in Learning Disabilities Lecture 8 Dyslexia Assessment  Reading is a complex combination of cognitive and behavioural skills. Therefore, it requires a comprehensive assessment. Both, informal as well as formal testing methods, are used for reading assessm...

Assessments in Learning Disabilities Lecture 8 Dyslexia Assessment  Reading is a complex combination of cognitive and behavioural skills. Therefore, it requires a comprehensive assessment. Both, informal as well as formal testing methods, are used for reading assessment. Generally, informal tests are based on criterion-referenced tests of reading skills of specific individuals, and Norm-referenced tests are standardized tests that provide reading scores comparable to the norm of reading age. Areas for informal assessment Letter sound knowledge Word reading Fluency Spelling Comprehension Letter Sound Knowledge Familiarity with letter forms, names and corresponding sounds. which may be measured by recognition, production, and writing tasks. Measure letter–name fluency, the student may be given a random list of uppercase and lowercase letters and asked to identify the names of as many letters as possible in 1 minute.(pre-schooler 30) Letter Sound Relationship on tests of letter-sound fluency, the student may be given a random list of uppercase and lowercase letters and have 1 minute to identify as many letter sounds as possible. A student may also be asked to write individual letters that are dictated or write the letter or letter combination that corresponds to a sound that is presented orally (e.g., “Write the letter that makes the /m/ sound”). Letter–sound assessment Observation of children during oral reading, seatwork and recreational reading provides opportunities for understanding their reading skills. A teacher may focus on the child’s attitude, interest, rate of progress, fluency, pronunciation, word analysis skill, use of context clues to recognize words, sight vocabulary, attention to meaning, and various other strengths and weaknesses. Letter–Sound Knowledge In order to assess letter–sound knowledge, The children are asked to provide the sounds associated with individual letters written in the lower case and presented in cards in random order. The child is asked to give the sound. The letter–sound names are provided for dictation (e.g., Ka, Fe, Ho). Word Reading It is also critical to assess the student’s word-reading skills, which requires assessing accuracy and fluency with both real and nonsense words in timed and untimed situations. Timed tests of real and nonsense word reading provide information as to whether the student has fluency in word identification. Alphabetic Processes capacity to read or spell unfamiliar forms For assessing alphabetic processes Three letters, consonant-vowel-consonant, non-words are provided. The non-words are also dictated for writing. Logographic Process written or pictorial symbol intended to represent a whole word for assessing logographic process, highly frequent words are used from a word list. Fluency When assessing text fluency, both oral and silent reading fluency can be evaluated. Tests that are commonly used to assess fluency tend to measure reading rate more specifically. Reading rate comprises both word-level automaticity and the speed and fluidity with which a reader moves through connected text. Automaticity is quick and effortless identification of words in or out of context Spelling Spelling tests can provide information about a student’s understanding of and ability to apply phonics to the spelling of words and of a student’s orthographic ( orthography is the practice of proper spelling, ) and morphological awareness. Comprehension Comprehension measures also vary in the type of text students are expected to read (e.g., narrative, informational, or persuasive material), time constraints and pressure for speed. Students refer back to the text in answering comprehension questions, and response format or how students are expected to demonstrate comprehension of what they have read. Retellings require a student to read a text and then orally tell about what was just read, usually with some sort of coding system for scoring the quality of the retelling. Gates McKillop Reading Diagnostic Test This is one of the most complete tests of reading in English language. Gates–McKillop Reading Diagnostic Test (1962) is one of the earliest individually administered test of reading, designed for children in the age group of 2–6 years. Oral Reading (with error analysis), Un-timed Presentation of Words, Flash Presentation of phrases, Knowledge of Word Parts, Recognition of Visual Forms Representing Sounds and Auditory Blending. Gate Reading Diagnostic Test Gate McKillop Horowitz Reading Diagnostic Test Later revision of Gates test Meant for grades 1–6 Evaluate Oral Reading (omissions, additions, repetitions, directional errors, wrong beginning, wrong middle, wrong ending, wrong in several parts, and accent errors); Reading Sentences; Words (flash and un-timed); Word Attack (syllabication, recognizing, and blending common word parts, reading words, giving letter sounds, naming capital letters); Recognizing the Visual Form of Vowels; Auditory Tests (auditory discrimination); Written Expression (spelling and informal writing sample). Reading Diagnostic Checklist Ekwall (1986) prepared 30 items called Reading Diagnostic Checklist, which contained items on oral reading, silent reading, study skills and other related abilities. Several varieties of errors were enlisted in the checklist. These errors included: word-by-word reading, incorrect phrasing, poor pronunciation, omissions, repetitions, inversions and reversals, insertions, substitution, problem with basic sight words, sight vocabulary, guessing, difficulty in pronouncing consonant or vowel sounds, lack of desirable structural analysis, unable to use context clues, difficulty in contractions, inadequate comprehension, inadequate vocabulary, poor recall, poorly organized response, inability to locate information, skim, adjust rate to difficulty of material, low-or high-rate expression and so on.