Understanding a Diagnostic Approach to Assessing and Teaching Reading

Erekson, J. A., Opitz, M. F., & Schendel, R. (2020). Understanding a diagnostic approach to assessing and teaching reading. Understanding, assessing, and teaching reading: A diagnostic approach (pp. 1-17). Pearson.

Slide One: 

This PP presentation highlights important information from the chapter Understanding a Diagnostic Approach to Assessing and Teaching Reading written by James Erekson, Michael Opitz, and Roland Schendel. It comes from their book Understand, Assessing, and Teaching Reading: A Diagnostic Approach.  

Slide Two: 

The learning outcomes of this chapter are for you to: (1) Discuss the attributes of a diagnostic approach to assessing and teaching reading and the beliefs on which it is based; (2) Describe the basic ideas that form the foundations of Response to Intervention and how they connect to a diagnostic approach; (3) Explain how reading can be defined and how defining reading influences a diagnostic approach; (4) Compare and contrast proficient and less proficient reading behaviors; (5) Define English Learners and explain the levels of language proficiency through which they progress, and (6) Construct a timeline that shows how readers change over time. 

Slide Three: 

I really like how this chapter starts with a scenario of this teacher, Ms. Prazzo, and her third-grade classroom and the way we are invited in as Ms. Prazzo zooms in with certain students, working one-on-one, and then the way she zooms out as she considers all of her students.

 As noted in this chapter, zooming in means spending time getting to know just one learner very well and learning to teach based on this knowledge. Zooming out means figuring out how to scale the management of information and planning for group and whole classes. (The Struggling Reading Case Study Project that is a part of this course will give you the opportunity to zoom in with the one student, with the goal of you taking the knowledge you gain to your own classroom.)

Ive included in this slide things that stood out to me about her, and I am certain there are other things you may have noted that are not included here.  First, Ms. Prazzo is constantly asking her students questions, not only about how they think before, during and after reading, but also how her students feel about reading and what they believe about reading. In addition, when choosing assessment tools, she asks herself: What do I want to know? Why do I want to know that?, and How can I best discover that information? (This is something you will do with the Case Study Project.) 
Also noted is how Ms. Prazzo conferences with her students once a week, keeping notes on what students do well and what they are showing her that they need to learn. She is reflective, not only about her teaching, but about the materials she is using and the classroom context in which the students are learning. 

And theres that big classroom library she has that has a variety of material. Its so important for students to engage in reading that is of interest to them, something we will dive deep into this semester. We know reading helps develop reading skills, so the way she provides access to print is very important. 

Ms. Prazzo also understands that students interests and their attitudes play such vital roles in reading development. In addition, she regularly shares with students what she is reading and why she reads. Lastly, she is passionate about assessing and teaching reading, and she understands that a diagnostic approach is central to her ongoing growth. 

Slide Four: 

A diagnostic approach to assessing and teaching reading is a comprehensive way of using data that is gathered by examining three primary components of effective reading instruction: the learner, instruction, and context. 

It is an in-depth, data-driven process used to determine a students specific reading abilities and instructional needs. It is formative; that is, it is designed to inform your understanding of the readers strengths and needs so a teacher can adapt teaching based on detailed analysis of student performance in key reading areas such as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, as well as motivation factors.
 
A diagnostic approach is ongoing and multifaceted in that it requires teachers to use a variety of assessment techniques, including student self-assessment, teacher self-assessment, and assessment of instructional materials and contexts to provide the best possible instruction for all learners. 

Slide Five: 

This slide highlights the beliefs of a diagnostic approach. 

First, problem-solving for any complicated system requires diagnostic tools. Reading is a complex system, and to help students grow as readers, teachers use the three areas -- the reader, the texts they read, and the contexts -- to identify strengths and needs. 

Second, its about knowing readers. The original Greek meaning of diagnosis is to come to know. Assessments help teachers to understand a reader's strengths and needs. Observations and assessments inform instruction; that is the ultimate goal, to tailor instruction to each student. 

Third, teachers use students strengths to build as a child learns something new. By focusing on strengths first, they see the child as someone who can bring something to the new learning.  

Fourth, carefully identifying students needs from multiple sources is important in a diagnostic approach. These sources include the affective domain (i.e. interests, attitudes, and identity), the cognitive domain (i.e., metacognition and comprehension), and perceptual domain (i.e., word knowledge and phonics). 

Finally, the fifth belief of a diagnostic approach is zooming in and out is essential. Zooming In: spending time getting to know just one learner very well and learning to teach based on this knowledge. Zooming out: figuring out how to scale the management of information and planning for groups and whole classes. (Audra and Sarah with independent reading time).

Slide Six: 

The diagnostic approach to assessing and teaching reading aligns with intervention models that fall under the Response to Intervention initiative. The 2004 update of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) specifies that it is no longer necessary to identify all learning problems (e.g. learning to read) as severe enough to be classified as learning disabilities. The first part of the three-step process is providing children who appear to be struggling with the best possible instruction in the regular classroom using evidence-based strategies and examining how they are performing. If a child is not making adequate progress, the second step involves supplementary instruction from either the classroom teacher or another professional. 

This is done in a one-on-one or in small group setting. Teachers continue to monitor progress. If the child still does not make progress or very little progress has been made, step three involves administering additional tests to determine if there is a specific learning disability. If there is a disability, the child receives special education support and is given more intensive intervention. Intervention is key, just as in a diagnostic approach, identify the problem early on and do something to improve reading. 

Slide Seven: 

There are some other things to consider when we think about Response to Intervention (RtI) and the diagnostic approach. When we intervene early it helps students to not experience so much frustration and failure, which can be so hard for children. We will think deeper about this when we consider affective factors and what is known as learned helplessness; children will give up before they even attempt something, reading for example, because their negative experiences with reading have led them to believe they cannot be successful with this, so they just give up before they even try. We will also consider how negative attitudes impact reading engagement and how that impacts reading development. We also need to consider when we diagnose students and figure out different strengths and needs, they may be put in reading groups so specific skills can be focused on. We must be careful though, we dont want to give the underlying message that these are the top readers  the haves, and these are the lowest readers  the have nots; we need to make sure we have flexible grouping. We also need to consider, young people older than first grade are still learning to read as part of their normal spectrum of learning, and many difficulties are social and affective rather than cognitive. Reading may be difficult for many normal people to master. 

Slide Eight: 

Next in this chapter models of the reading process are presented. Definitions of reading are usually classified into one of three models. Know that the field of reading has a plethora of theories, each having different catchphrases, but are all assigned to the same general theories, which can be confusing. 

Controversy has centered on whether the reading process is a holistic one with an emphasis on meaning  the top-down model; or the reading process is a subskill process, which is code emphasis  the bottom-up model. The interactive model is somewhat but not entirely a combination of the two, in that both processes can take place simultaneously, depending on the difficulty of what the child is reading; that is, when encountering an unknown word, you use decoding skills and your background knowledge at the same time. 

On the next slide there are links that help to explain these models further. Know that classroom teachers should take elements from researched based theories to best fit the individual strengths and needs of students. Extreme perspectives prejudice teachers diagnostic decisions, making it difficult for them to examine all aspects of reading. Some childrens strength may be focusing on decoding, and the teacher needs to help the child to think while reading. Some children may rely on context too much, and the teacher needs to help them to develop decoding skills. Excellent teachers realize that readers are complex, there are no one-size-fits-all answers. The interactive model is more flexible than any model that assumes one direction of teaching works best for all learners. 

Slide Nine: 

Clink on the links to learn more about the bottom-up, top-down, and interactive models of reading. In slides 10 through 13, the interactive model is further explained. 

Slide Ten: 

Lets explore the interactive model of reading. Its important to know that there are three key factors that interact to shape the process of reading comprehension: the reader, the text, and the activity. 

All these components contribute to how well a reader understands a text or does not understand it. Comprehension occurs in the interaction among reader, text, and activity. Thus, reading comprehension will vary based upon all these same factors. This is important to note because it reminds us that we can shape and improve comprehension by not only helping the reader but also by carefully selecting and preparing texts as well as by thoughtfully and creatively designing reading activity. 

Slide 11: 

Lets think about the reader first. Readers bring many different characteristics to the table when they approach a text. 

First, they enter the interaction with prior knowledge or lack thereof. What did the student know prior to reading about the topic? And, what does the student know about topic vocabulary and language conventions? What skills and strategies can the student apply while reading? Students also bring different levels of motivation. Is the students motivation to read intrinsic (internal) or extrinsic (external)? Then theres interest. Is the student intrigued by the subject of the reading? Finally, what is the readers self-concept? How proficient does the reader perceive him or herself to be at reading? These are just some of the characteristics of readers that impact a students comprehension of texts.  

Slide 12: 

Readers interact with text as they try to understand them, and text have their own features that can help or hinder their comprehension. These are the components of the text the teacher can analyze prior to instruction. Theres language. What is the level of vocabulary and syntax? Theres the level of abstraction. How conceptual is the language and the knowledge and how technical in its detail, requiring a greater level of analysis on the part of the student? Then there is the topic itself. What is its relevance and utility to the student in his or her past, present, and future? Structure also matters; how the ideas and arguments are organized and the clarity and logic of the flow. Finally, there is style.  

How do diction, voice, syntax, and other text features interact to engage the reader? All of these elements have impact on a students comprehension. 

Slide 13: 

The third key factor in the interactive model of reading is the reading activity. At play here are a range of activity-based factors that impact a readers comprehension including purpose, relevance, connection, and clarity. Purpose  why are students doing this activity? Can they see the larger goal behind the task you assign? Relevance  how relevant is the task to the students life? Is there an opportunity to solve a meaningful problem or grapple with an idea that has utility in a students life? Connection  how might the student connect the reading task with the real world, with past and future instruction, with an upcoming assessment? Clarity  how clear is the task, its directions, its standards for evaluation, and its outcomes? 

Slide 14: 

We should also consider the instructional context, the setting where learning occurs. Somethings we can control and some we cannot. Class size is out of the teachers control. A class size of 38 compared to 24 impacts the type of instruction the teacher can provide. Environmental factors impact learning. Is it too hot or too cold in your classroom? Social factors matter as well. Was there a fight in the hallway? Is someone going through friendship problems. Is a child being teased? These things impact learning. 

Slide 15: 

When defining reading for a diagnostic approach, we must understand reading is a very complex act that involves bringing meaning to the printed page and taking meaning from the printed page. Its not just reading the words on the page. Strong readers bring their backgrounds, experiences, and emotions into play as they read. 

Reading is a balance between three domains: (1) Affective: how readers feel and what they believe about reading. (2) Global: how readers think and process meaning when they read (comprehension) and when they think about their reading (metacognition), and (3). Local: how readers use the structural parts of language to help them think (decoding, vocabulary, understanding of syntax).

Slide 16: 

Teachers must ask and answer questions about all three aspects of reading, which is the foundation for diagnostic assessment. The affective domain impacts global and local processes. Consider this: When students experience high interest, positive attitudes, and a strong identity with reading these pave the way for progress in learning global and local skills such as comprehending sentences and paragraphs or identifying new words. When readers experience unengaging material, develop negative attitudes, and believe reading is more for other people than for them, then teaching of global and local skills falls on stony ground  the seeds of teaching will not grow there!

Slide 17:

Its important to consider the characteristics of a good reader so we can consider the big picture of where we want those who are less proficient to be. Note Table 1.1 on page 11 that includes a summary of proficient and less proficient reading behaviors. In this slide is a list of characteristics of good readers. Compare those to less proficient reading behaviors listed on page 11. Also, note Table 1.2, also on page 11 of this chapter, which provides an explanation of good reader attributes.   

Slide 18: 

Everything about the diagnostic approach also applies to English learners. This approach works for EL as well. Individualization is central to successful reading instruction. Researchers have identified different levels of language proficiency through which language learners progress. 

Note Figure 1.2 on page 12 of this chapter which includes the five levels of language proficiency  starting, emerging, developing, expanding, and bridging --  and the description for each level. Be aware that language learners may be at different levels depending on the social context and how they are called on to use language.

For example, a student may be at a level 5 (bridging) when using English in a less formal situation such as talking with friends, but they may be at level 3 (developing) when using English in a formal setting such as school. When using a diagnostic approach with English Language Learners, start by learning all you can about the students literacy skills in home languages. 

The literacy practices in a home language can be used to the advantage of English learners, helping them develop reading processes and practices that can be generalized to English literacy. In addition, now major differences among phonemes and grammatical words (e.g. the short i and short e sounds do not exist in Spanish). Remember that language learning is not a linear process and varies greatly from student to student; therefore, not all ELLs need the same kinds of instruction at the same time. 

Slide 19: 

Table 1.3 on page 13 shows the stages of literacy growth and some of their descriptors. Know that stages can overlap and that students rarely display every characteristic of one stage before they move on to another. Many characteristics stay the same from stage to stage, but they become more sophisticated. Though the table shows a neat linear process, this is usually not the case. Children need to receive a tremendous amount of support and have many reading experiences to become proficient. Engagement is key. It is so important for students to spend time actually reading, to be engaged in reading texts they want to read. 

 
