Running head: FIELD TEST AND SUMMARIES 1

Field Testing and Summary of Results

Amanda Eiman
University of Las Vegas, Nevada
Running head: FIELD TEST AND SUMMARIES 2

Student Information
Garrett is a fifth grade student at C.C. Ronnow Elementary. Garrett is 10 years old and
has attended four different elementary schools in the Clark County School District since starting
kindergarten. His home language is primarily Spanish and his current English proficiency level is
listed as Expanding according to the WIDA: English Language Proficiency Assessment. He is
currently placed in a 3.2 SFA class which is equivalent to an end of third grade reading level.
Assessment 1: Reading Attitude SurveyElementary Grades
For this assessment I used the Reading Attitude Survey for elementary grade (K-5).The
purpose of this assessment was to learn more about my students reading habits and his attitude
toward reading. When administering this assessment I gave my student a copy of the assessment
and went through the directions with him. I then read each question and gave him time to circle
the smiley face that matched his feeling. For a few of the questions I asked Garrett why he
circled specific smiley faces and jotted down his responses. Overall, Garrett seemed to have a
positive response to reading during school. He was happy to read during free time at school but
does not like to read at home. Garrett would prefer to play with his cousins or friends than read.
Additionally, he is worried about having to answer questions about reading because he is afraid
and embarrassed that he may have the wrong answer. I find that this assessment adheres to what
it is intended to assess; the results gave me an insight into Garretts attitude about reading both at
home and in school. However, I believe that the student might have been trying to please me
with some of his answers even though I told Garrett that the survey was to help me find out more
about his reading and that I wanted to know his honest opinion. I think that if I had given this
assessment whole group and said it was to be anonymous I would have received different results
that were more authentic.
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Assessment 2: Running Record
In this running record assessment Garrett read a level 5 narrative passage from Flynt and
Cooter (2007). The purpose of this assessment is to assess the students oral reading while
identifying patterns of effective and ineffective strategy use. The running record allowed me to
see what Garrett can do while reading and I was able to identify some areas that he needs help
with. When administering this assessment I provided Garrett with a copy of the passage and I
used the corresponding running record form provided in the Flynt and Cooter (2007) text. I told
my student that I wanted to hear him read the passage and that he did not need to worry about
time because I was not timing him. As he began reading I followed along on my running record
form making notes as he read. After he finished reading I had him return to his seat and I scored
the running record form. After analyzing the running record I noticed that Garrett made twelve
errors out of the 100 words he read. The majority of the errors were mispronunciations. When
looking at the error analysis portion of the running record I noticed that most of the errors were
visual. This means that Garrett is using visual cues when he does not know a word and it could
also show that he needs to slow down when reading and pay more attention to the words and the
letters in each word. When looking at Garretts accuracy rate for this passage he scored an 88%
which would fall under the frustrational level. I noticed that three of his errors were on the same
word. When I completed a running record with him on a level 4 passage he did not make any
errors. Therefore, I believe that the level 5 passage is at Garretts instructional level. Overall, I
found that this assessment adheres to what it is intended to assess; the results informed me of
Garretts oral reading strengths and error patterns. I think that a running record is an effective
tool to assess a students oral reading accuracy. It is an authentic and easy assessment to identify
error patterns and provides important information to guide instruction.
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Assessment 3: Comprehension
In order to assess Garretts comprehension I administered the Silent Reading
Comprehension assessment from Flynt and Cooter (2007). The purpose of this assessment is to
measure a students ability to comprehend a passage by verbally answering questions on a
variety of story elements. To give this assessment I provided Garrett a level 5 passage from Flynt
and Cooter (2007) and told him to read the passage carefully because I would ask him questions
about the passage after he finished reading. Once he was done reading I asked Garrett to tell me
about the story. On my assessment form I mark ua (unassisted) for any answers to the
questions he gave without me having to specifically ask the question. When Garrett was done
telling me about the story I went back and asked him the specific questions he had not answered
and marked a (assisted) next to them if he answered the question correctly. There were three
questions that Garrett could not answer. One was an inferential question about problem and
resolution the other two were evaluative questions about theme and characterization. From this
assessment I determined that Garrett has no problem recalling basic story information and
answering literal questions. He struggles with inferential and evaluative question types. When
completing the listening comprehension portion of the assessment Garrett preformed much
better. Overall, this assessment adheres to what it is intended to assess; the results informed me
of Garretts comprehension level and they types of questions he struggles with. I think that the
level 5 passage is at Garretts frustrational level for reading comprehension. I believe that this
assessment is an authentic measure of my students reading comprehension. I think that
combined with other reading comprehension assessments I would get a better measure and
understanding of Garretts reading level.

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Assessment 4: Writing
When assessing Garretts writing abilities I used a writing observation form. The purpose
of this observation form is to note the students strengths and areas of improvements. On the
second portion of the form there is a place to include next steps and future instruction. This
portion of the form can include structure, grammar, vocabulary, etc. I also used another form that
listed different writing traits and I marked the ones that I observed. For these assessments, I
collected a piece of writing that the student had completed for his SFA class. Each week Garrett
is asked to complete one writing assignment during his reading class. For this particular writing
piece students were asked to write about qualities of a good friend because they had just finished
a book about friends and were studying character traits. Once I had Garretts writing sample I
read through it and took notes on what writing traits were evident in his writing. I also identified
some areas where he struggled. Garrett appears to fall between the expanding and bridging
stages of writing. He is able to spell most common words correctly. He uses capital letters and
punctuation and for the most part he stays on topic when writing. He needs to work on paragraph
structure and including details in his writing. Overall, this assessment adheres to what it is
intended to assess; the results informed me of Garretts writing abilities and areas of
improvements. Personally, I feel that the writing assessment was very authentic but was a bit
subjective as with most writing assessments. It is important to be clear on the writing traits the
student already exhibits so that you can identify the areas of improvement needed. This writing
assessment was very easy to administer and would be great to track student growth.
Summary
When looking over all of the literacy assessments, it is evident that Garrett is struggling
to read and write at a fifth grade level. He is working towards this goal and has shown a number
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of strengths necessary to achieve it. The assessments showed that Garrett does well recalling a
story and answering questions when read to. In writing he stays on topic when given writing
prompt and shows some original ideas in his writing. These strengths will help when looking at
the areas of improvement that I will work with Garrett on.
The first area of improvement that I will focus on is Garretts oral reading accuracy. The
miscue analysis showed that a number of Garretts errors were mispronunciations and that they
fell under the visual error analysis. I will need to work with Garrett on slowing down when he
reads and paying attention to the words and the letters that form them. I will also focus on
teaching how to self-correct when he is reading. I teach Garrett to stop when reading and if
something doesnt make sense or sound right then he needs to go back and clarify or correct
himself.
The second area of improvement that I will focus on is reading comprehension and
summarization of the reading. I need to focus on showing Garrett strategies to help him
comprehend the text he is reading. During after school tutoring I will focus on a number of
strategies as well as during SFA instructions. Additionally, during SFA this upcoming quarter we
are switching our focus from clarifying to summarizing which should help Garrett practice this
skill.
The third area of improvement was identified with the writing assessment. Garrett needs
help with structuring a paragraph and including a topic sentence, details, and a closing. I will be
working with Garrett during SFA Adventures in Writing days and during after school tutoring.
We will be looking at student exemplars that have all of these components as well as using a
graphic organizer to help plan out paragraphs before writing. With this additional practice and
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instruction as well as instruction during his daily writing class Garrett should be able to improve
in this area within the next quarter.
Overall, these assessments helped guide and focus my instruction for Garrett. I am
currently writing plans for him to be included in RTI and these assessments helped identify areas
of concern. Additionally, all of the assessments will help guide the instruction for RTI and after
school tutoring. I believe that completing these assessments gave me a better understanding of
how I can help Garrett be successful in both reading and writing. It is crucial that teachers take
the time to give formative assessments so that they are better equipped to instruct their students.











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References
Flynt & Cooter. (2007). Comprehensive reading inventory: Measuring reading development in
regular and special education classroom. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.