First Grades Assessments

Observation Survey – Language Arts Literacy - Fall & Spring

 1.     Letter Identification –

Students are given a large print letter sheet with 54 capital and lower case letters in a random order, which the student must read aloud. The # of correct & incorrect responses are noted, as are the type of incorrect responses (e.g., confusion - "p" for "b" because of similar sounds or visual configurations, didn't know letter). Look at "Letter Identification Score Sheet" to assess student's performance. first grade students are expected to identify 54 letters by the Spring assessment.

Words are composed of letters. Students must perceive each letter as a symbol, with a distinct name & sound. Research demonstrates that children who have difficulty learning to read in the primary grades are those who begin school with less prior knowledge in certain domains. Letter knowledge is a special category of visual graphic that can be individually named.

2.     Writing Vocabulary - Writing Spree –

Write known words within 10 minutes. Each completed word scores one point if it is correctly spelled and a score of 41+ in the Spring assessment suggests the child is meeting first grade expectations

As the core of known words builds in writing, and the high frequency words become known, they become the foundation from which other words can be composed through linking parts and analogy in reading and writing. In assessing the student's performance determine if the student attempted to write a word, initial/final sounds, and/or was there any evidence of phonemic awareness? A poor writing vocabulary may indicate that the student may not be attending to visual differences in print. 

3.     Phonemic Awareness & writing graphemes - Hearing & Recording Sounds in a word

A dictation task that measures how well a student records heard sounds using standard phonemes. Each child's product is scored by counting the child's representation of sounds (phonemes) by letters (graphemes). Student responses and scores are noted on the "Hearing and Recording Sounds in Words Task for Kindergarten Score Sheet, which should be analyzed. " There are a total of 37 phonemes in the dictated words. It is expected that by the Spring assessment first grade students will identify at least 23 phonemes.

The single most reliable predictor of young students later reading success is their ability to segment sounds in a sound stream (phonemic awareness). Among other skills, students must hear sounds buried in words and they must link graphemes (letters) with the sounds they represent. Qualitative assessment of the types of mistakes can inform instruction. Did the child attempt any part of the word? What did the child hear first? Did the child hear initial, medial, final sound? Is there evidence of phonemic awareness?

4.     Reading sight vocabulary - Ohio Word Test

Words from the Dolch and students asked to read 20 words from a large print word list, allowing only 5 seconds for each word. It is expected that in the Spring assessment, first grade students will be able to read 19 of these words.

Given the importance of automaticity, it is critical for readers to be able to immediately know high frequency words on demand and increase their reading. In addition to the over all performance instructional implications including strengths and weaknesses, can be assessed by answering the following questions:

a.      What letters did the child use as cues in reading?

b.     Did he/she isolate the first sound?

c.     Did he/she give a word that started with the same sound?

d.     Did the child attempt to letter/sound sequence?

e.      Did the child get to the word through analogy?

f.       Did some of the letters match with letters in the word?

 5.     Text Level Reading – DRA

Utilizes selected text level reading, spanning a range of text difficulty from emergent to grade five, to assess a student's discrete instructional reading level. The student must maintain phasing and fluency while reading text, which is observed and noted. The student's level of accuracy is noted on the "Running Record" by counting the number of miscues and referencing the "Observation Guide" to assess the accuracy rate, which is expected to be 16 to 18 in the Spring of the first grade.

In addition to the overall instructional reading levels, observing the student's reading fluency shows how he/she reads word by word, fluency, phased reading, punctuation and syntax, and rereading for problem solving all have instructional implications that should be identified as strengths and weaknesses and addressed in classroom instruction, school-based interventions, special education evaluations and reports, as well as IEP PLAAFP statements, goals and objectives. The information gathered from this assessment enables us to:

a.      Determine the student's independent and instructional levels:

b.     Confirm or redirect ongoing instruction;

c.     Group students effectively for reading experiences and instruction;

d.     Determine if the student is working below proficiency and needs further intervention

Instructional Implications

The knowledge and skills assessed on each of the above assessments can be utilized to identify each student's strengths and weaknesses, which can be addressed in lesson plans, school-based  interventions, special education evaluations and reports;, and IEP programs & services (e.g., PLAAFP statements and goals and objectives). 

Oral Reading Fluency – January and March

Students are required to read appropriate grade level narrative or expository text within a timed interval. The Oral Reading Fluency assessment provides a teacher the opportunity to assess oral reading fluency, compute a fluency score, interpret the score, and make comparisons of progress at intervals throughout the school year.  This individualized assessment requires the teacher to take a running record of student performance measuring accuracy as well as reading rate. This observable and measurable data should be identified as strengths and weaknesses in special education evaluations and reports, as well as IEP PLAAFP statements, goals and objectives, if the student is classified, and addressed with lesson plans and school-based interventions.

Writing tasks – Fall & Spring

Teachers provide sufficient time to write 3 separate stories in the same week, based on student-selected pictures, and score these sets using the primary version of the Registered Holistic Scoring Method Rubric. The collection of student work provides authentic data on which to assess progress; show what the child knows about the processes of writing and spelling; identify particular strengths and instructional needs; and influence instructional decisions, the selection of resources and teaching strategies. Review class data sheet for all students to see if selected student scores above/below benchmark and how they perform compared to classmates, identify each student’s strengths and weaknesses in special education evaluations and reports, as well as IEP PLAAFP statements, goals and objectives, if the student is classified, and addressed with lesson plans and school-based interventions.

In addition to the overall rubric score we should note the criteria skills that were and were not exhibited to guide instruction. The information that's gathered helps assess if the student:

a.      Has a desire to write and knows what they want to write;

b.     Employs spelling and proofreading strategies;

c.     Uses phonemic awareness to spell words;

d.     Has known words at their disposal;

e.      Is correctly/incorrectly forming certain letters, mastered the rules of directionality, etc.;

f.       Has mastered certain stages of writing and spelling;

g.     Uses capital letters, lower case letters, begins sentences with a capital letter, ends sentences with punctuation marks, has a knowledge of first/last letter, consonant and vowel sounds;

h.     Takes a risk to write imaginatively rather than sticking to a pattern of known words, repetitive sentences, or the same stories;

i.        Knows what a sentence is.

Math Assessments

Math Midterm and Final Assessments:

These assessments are designed by the district and are similar in format to the mathematics introduced in Everyday Mathematics (a standards-based and aligned series).

The Midterm and Final Assessments are the students' first exposure to a formal testing situation.  Theses tests consist of constructed response (the student determines the answer and fills in the blank) and multiple-choice questions (the student chooses the best answer from among 4 choices). 

Unit Assessments:

The unit assessments are part of the Everyday Mathematics series published by McGraw Hill.  These assessments are closely aligned to the NJCCCS and are administered at the end of each unit.  The questions on these assessments contain both pure computation and word problems.  In addition, teachers may use the Assessment Assistant (a component of Everyday Math) to tailor computer-generated assessments formatted in the same way as the unit tests to the needs of the class.

As part of the Grade 1 Everyday Math Kit, each teacher receives an Assessment Handbook.  The handbook contains masters for individual student profiles and class profiles correlated to the objectives unit by unit.  Teachers are encouraged to use this as part of daily on-going assessment in conjunction with portfolio assessment of students.

Open-Ended Questions:

Performance assessment tasks for children in grades K-8 that meet national standards to improve assessment and instruction have been downloaded to all networked Newark Public School computer labs.  Each EXEMPLAR includes a performance task and the context for the assignment, a specific rubric, annotated benchmark papers at Novice, Apprentice, Practitioner and Expert levels, concepts to be assessed and skills to be developed, interdisciplinary links and teaching tips, possible solutions, suggestions on how students might carry out the task, and the estimated time required.   

Science:

Foss & STC Modules  

-FOSS assessment takes the form of informal teacher observation and teacher questioning. The teacher guide suggests behavior to watch for during investigations and questions to ask about the content. Assessments fall into two categories: formative and summative. Formative assessments are integrated into instruction. Based on these two means of assessment, teachers will know how to adjust their teaching for individual students or for the whole class. A recording system is included.