We decided as a school not to use the DRAs because they were so time consuming. While the running record part was valuable, the comprehension and writing section was far too long and arduous. Classroom teachers administered it and it took away valuable instruction time. Our curriculum coordinator (she's fabulous) created our own streamlined running records/reading inventory and comprehension check (and she still is making new ones as the kids rise up through the grades) and the classroom teachers found that it gives just as reliable information. Plus the process is taken out of the classroom teacher's hands so it doesn't impact instruction and is a bit more objective.
As a classroom teacher, my colleagues and I found this process (end of the year running record, along with a highly structured writing assessment - also designed by our talented curriculum coordinator - and the classroom teacher's observations) gives us a clear, snapshot of the student at the beginning and the end of the year. On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 3:26 AM, Valerie Vitalo <valvit...@yahoo.com> 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 <jangou...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > From: Jan Sanders <jangou...@gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] data collection for analysis > To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group" < > mosaic@literacyworkshop.org> > 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 > <betsylafont...@gmail.com>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 <jw...@marshallschools.com > > >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 > > > jw...@marshallschools.com<mailto:jw...@marshallschools.com> > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Mosaic mailing list > > > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Mosaic mailing list > > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. 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