| Diagnostic assessments are essential instructional tools | | | | 4. Diagnostic assessments should measure important |
| for effective English-language Arts and reading | | | | ELA/reading concepts or skills. Although we may |
| teachers. However, many teachers resist using these | | | | disagree on a few of the details, few teachers would |
| tools because they can be time-consuming to | | | | argue that assessing a student's reading level is not as |
| administer, grade, record, and analyze. Some teachers | | | | important as assessing a student's ability to correctly |
| avoid diagnostic assessments because these | | | | name the four classifications of sentences. |
| teachers exclusively focus on grade-level | | | | 5. Diagnostic tests should help the teacher determine |
| standards-based instruction or believe that remediation | | | | the relative strengths and weaknesses of the individual |
| is (or was) the job of some other teacher. To be | | | | student, and not just those of the class. A teacher |
| honest, some teachers resist diagnostic tests because | | | | needs more information than simply what to |
| the data might induce them to differentiate instruction-a | | | | emphasize in instruction or what to re-teach to "most" |
| daunting task for any teacher. And some teachers | | | | of the class. |
| resist diagnostic assessments because they fear that | | | | 6. Diagnostic instruments should be quantitative. |
| the data will be used by administrators to hold them | | | | Although qualitative assessment, such as a class |
| accountable for individual student progress. | | | | discussion, is useful to inform direct instruction, internally |
| To ameliorate these concerns, let's agree to the ten | | | | and externally valid and reliable assessments that |
| criteria for effective ELA/reading diagnostic | | | | produce hard numbers provide objective baselines for |
| assessments: | | | | instruction, and guide later formative and summative |
| 1. Diagnostic tests should be designed to be | | | | assessments. |
| administered "whole class." While one-on-one time with | | | | 7. Diagnostic tests should be designed to measure |
| a student is wonderful; it just isn't a practical approach | | | | academic skills and abilities within our control. Although |
| for teachers with class sizes pushing forty in many | | | | cognitive ability, family background, culture, |
| schools. I won't throw the baby out with the bath | | | | socio-economic status, and language certainly impact |
| water on this one. Individual assessments are | | | | what students know, these important variables are |
| sometimes necessary as double-checks or | | | | beyond the scope of useful diagnostic assessments. |
| refinements, and an individual fluency assessment is a | | | | We need diagnostic assessments that won't isolate |
| must for elementary, middle, and some high school | | | | these variables. For example, a diagnostic assessment |
| students. However, my experience is that effective | | | | that measures only the phonetic regularities common |
| whole class diagnostic assessments can produce | | | | to English and Spanish, ignores those sound-spellings |
| results that are just as reliable and prescriptive as the | | | | exclusive to English that all students need to master. |
| time-consuming individual assessments. | | | | Or as a further example, knowing that there is a racial |
| 2. Diagnostic tests should be brief. Despite the | | | | ethnic website. Most of these assessments are |
| oft-repeated dictum, assessment is not really | | | | multiple choice and are administered "whole class." All |
| instruction. | | | | have recording matrices to help the teacher plan for |
| 3. Diagnostic instruments should be designed to | | | | individual and small group instruction. Once, teachers |
| measure only what they purport to measure. For | | | | administer these assessments and analyze the data, |
| example, a diagnostic fluency assessment that | | | | many will wish to purchase my teaching resources |
| produces inaccurate results because it uses unfamiliar | | | | Teaching Reading Strategies, and Teaching Spelling |
| terminology or difficult names is useless. A grammar | | | | and Vocabulary to differentiate instruction precisely |
| assessment that pretends to measure correct usage | | | | according to the data of these diagnostic |
| by having students match a past perfect participle to | | | | assessments. Why not try these with your students? |
| its definition does not accomplish its purpose. | | | | |