Definitions of curriculum the courses offered by an educational institution a set of courses constituting an area of specialization the courses that

hat are taught by a school, college, etc. Procedural Advantages: Easy to develop - The format is standardized (directions & time) and the content are samples that come directly from the general education curriculum. Consequently they can be used for any subject. Quick to administer - The probes only last from 1 to 5 minutes, based on the subject. Easy to score and monitor - The format of the CBA probes makes them simple to score, monitor, and chart. Curriculum Advantages: Aligned with the curriculum - They test what is being taught because they come directly from the curriculum. Aligned with state's standards assessments a. District's curriculum is fully aligned with the state's standards and expectations b. Students' performance is predicated on speed and accuracy, criteria that are critical on most states standards-based assessments. c. "A variety of studies have found high correlations between CBM scores on reading and math and achievement levels on high-stakes tests. In addition, studies have found a relationship between CBM reading scores and pass rates on the statewide tests. Research in Oregon has showed that students who, at the beginning the third grade, can read more than 110 words correctly in one minute 1 are likely to pass the Oregon statewide test (Good, 2001)." Realistic assessment of student's rate of progress in the curriculum. a. Frequent administrations make CBAs sensitive to short-term gains in academic skills. b. By comparing a given student's performance in selected skills areas, to classroom or local norms, the teacher can better judge whether the child's assessed skills are delayed, on par with, or ahead of classmates. On-going monitoring and frequent, timely feedback contribute to improved student performance. CBAs identify problems, as well as plan & monitor the effectiveness of interventions a. Each student's level of frustration, instruction, and mastery are assessed. b. Discrepancies between individual achievement and the achievement of typical peers are identified. c. Interventions can better ensure an instructional match between what the student knows and what the teacher teaches. d. Remediation techniques can be developed utilizing the individual student's rate of acquisition, repetition requirements and rate of retention to match the student's skill level with the current curriculum.

e. After baseline data is established, a realistic goal for performance increases (e.g. fluency &/or accuracy) is established and monitored, with corresponding feedback, reinforcement, and adjustment in instructional strategies. 6. CBA/Ms can also help families understand more clearly what their child is or isnt learning compared grade-level expectations, and how homework can help their child progress. Accuracy Advantages: Curriculum Based Assessments/Measurements (CBA/M) meet the following essential features of instructionally valid measurements: Given under standardized conditions: a. They utilize the same format (e.g. directions, task requirements, & time-limits) and content (curriculum items taken directly from current curriculum). b. The results will correlate highly with how students are performing in the respective subjects. c. Research demonstrates that CBA/Ms are powerful assessment tools for monitoring short-term and long-term progress, as well as increasing performance (speed & accuracy) in selected academic areas. 2. Valid outcome indicators 3. Repeated testing over time 4. Qualitative feedback

Purpose of readings Some Purposes for Reading for pleasure or for personal reasons to find general information such as what a book is mostly about to find a specific topic in a book or article to learn subject matter that is required for a class Skimming for General Information Students who want to find general information about a subject such as frogs will want to skim through a book or several books to determine how the books are organized and what they cover. When they skim, they flip through the pages of the book or article quickly to find out whether it might cover the information they need. Scanning for Specific Information When a student wants to know how tadpoles become frogs, he will need to scan a book or article about amphibians or frogs to find out whether the material covers tadpoles. When he scans, he will look at the title, the table of contents, the headings, and the index to find out if the material gives information about tadpoles. Reading to Learn Another purpose for reading calls for reading carefully and slowly. When a student studies for a test, he will want to skim the book or chapter first to see what it covers. Then he will read the headings and subheadings to discover how the book is organized. He should try to make connections between the material and what he already knows. Once the student has a general idea about the material he wants to learn, he will read the sections carefully. Its a time to read with a dictionary close by and to check the glossary for words he doesnt know. After reading the chapter or section carefully, the student will go back and review the material to see if he can answer questions about the text. A reading strategy called SQ3R gives more information about a method for studying, asking and answering questions, and reviewing material. Efficient readers have learned to use different strategies for different kinds of reading. They know when its OK to read quickly skipping over some of the words, how to skim for general information, scan for specific information, and how to study for tests.

Four Levels of readings 1.Elementary-centers upon the identity of individual terms 2. Inspectional-skims a book to discover its basic structure and main idea 3. Analytical studies the book in depth in order to understand its message 4. Synoptical-Compares the message with other books of similar nature in order to construct a detailed and original analysis of the subject matter

Theories of readings
The traditional view According to Dole et al. (1991), in the traditional view of reading, novice readers acquire a set of hierarchically ordered sub-skills that sequentially build toward comprehension ability. Having mastered these skills, readers are viewed as experts who comprehend what they read. Readers are passive recipients of information in the text. Meaning resides in the text and the reader has to reproduce meaning. According to Nunan (1991), reading in this view is basically a matter of decoding a series of written symbols into their aural equivalents in the quest for making sense of the text. He referred to this process as the 'bottom-up' view of reading. McCarthy (1999) has called this view 'outside-in' processing, referring to the idea that meaning exists in the printed page and is interpreted by the reader then taken in. This model of reading has almost always been under attack as being insufficient and defective for the main reason that it relies on the formal features of the language, mainly words and structure. Although it is possible to accept this rejection for the fact that there is overreliance on structure in this view, it must be confessed that knowledge of linguistic features is also necessary for comprehension to take place. To counteract over-reliance on form in the traditional view of reading, the cognitive view was introduced.

The cognitive view The 'top-down' model is in direct opposition to the 'bottom-up' model. According to Nunan (1991) and Dubin and Bycina (1991), the psycholinguistic model of reading and the top-down model are in exact concordance. Goodman (1967; cited in Paran, 1996) presented reading as a psycholinguistic guessing game, a process in which readers sample the text, make hypotheses, confirm or reject them, make new hypotheses, and so forth. Here, the reader rather than the text is at the heart of the reading process. The schema theory of reading also fits within the cognitively based view of reading. Rumelhart (1977) has described schemata as "building blocks of cognition" which are used in the process of interpreting sensory data, in retrieving information from memory, in organising goals and subgoals, in allocating resources, and in guiding the flow of the processing system. Rumelhart (1977) has also stated that if our schemata are incomplete and do not provide an understanding of the incoming data from the text we will have problems processing and understanding the text. Cognitively based views of reading comprehension emphasize the interactive nature of reading and the constructive nature of comprehension. Dole et al. (1991) have stated that, besides knowledge brought to bear on the reading process, a set of flexible, adaptable strategies are used to make sense of a text and to monitor ongoing understanding.

The metacognitive view According to Block (1992), there is now no more debate on "whether reading is a bottom-up, language-based process or a top-down, knowledgebased process." It is also no more problematic to accept the influence of background knowledge on both L1 and L2 readers. Research has gone even further to define the control readers execute on their ability to understand a text. This control, Block (1992) has referred to as metacognition. Metacognition involves thinking about what one is doing while reading. Klein et al. (1991) stated that strategic readers attempt the following while reading: Identifying the purpose of the reading before reading Identifying the form or type of the text before reading Thinking about the general character and features of the form or type of the text. For instance, they try to locate a topic sentence and follow supporting details toward a conclusion Projecting the author's purpose for writing the text (while reading it), Choosing, scanning, or reading in detail Making continuous predictions about what will occur next, based on information obtained earlier, prior knowledge, and conclusions obtained within the previous stages. Moreover, they attempt to form a summary of what was read. Carrying out the previous steps requires the reader to be able to classify, sequence, establish whole-part relationships, compare and contrast, determine causeeffect, summarise, hypothesise and predict, infer, and conclude. Conclusion In the second part of this article I will look at the guidelines which can also be used as general ideas to aid students in reading and comprehending materials. These tips can be viewed in three consecutive stages: before reading, during reading, and after reading. For instance, before starting to read a text it is natural to think of the purpose of reading the text. As an example of the during-reading techniques, re-reading for better comprehension can be mentioned. And filling out forms and charts can be referred to as an after-reading activity. These tasks and ideas can be used to enhance reading comprehension.