Literacy Assessments (Part 2): Significant Disabilities

1. Literacy Assessments (Part 2):Significant Disabilities Presented by: Nanette Olivier, Literacy Goal Office Louisiana Department of Education and Dr. Caroline Musselwhite, Consultant AAC Intervention October 27, 2010

2. Webinar Goal &Objectives GOAL • Provide guidance to schools on literacy assessments for students with significant cognitive disabilities. OBJECTIVES • Briefly recap assessment requirements (described in Part 1) for Louisiana students with significant cognitive disabilities, including specific issues pertaining to students in grades K-3. • Review the use of 3 assessment tools for these students. • Intervention Planning Tool • Early Literacy Checklist • Developmental Spelling • Provide information on resources available to support the assessments.

3. DIBELS Assessment • 9/2/10 memo from Dr. Kerry Laster to LEAs regarding guidance for LA students with significant disabilities in grades K-3 • Administer DIBELS using standard procedures • Administer DIBELS using alternate procedures • Use an alternate literacy assessment tool http://sda.doe.louisiana.gov/ResourceFiles/Literacy/Memo_Sept_2_2010.pdf

4. Question If a student with a significant cognitive disability is in a grade other than K-3, and the district administers a literacy assessment, must that student be administered a literacy assessment as well? • Answer Yes. And if the district literacy assessment will not yield useful information for a student with a significant cognitive disability, then the procedures discussed in this webinar can be used.

5. Who are these students? • Students with significant and often complex disabilities • Intellectual, communication, sensory, social/behavioral and motor impairments • For students in grades 3-11, participate in LAA1 • Have typically been left out of the “literacy loop” The school-wide literacy plan must include the needs of these students!

6. Who is responsible for implementation of assessments for students with significant disabilities? • Reading coach • Special education teacher • Certified interventionist • Speech pathologist • Pupil appraisal • Technical assistance providers (e.g., AT Center) This must be a certified/licensed person!

7. Access Guide (Significant Disabilities) Website http://sda.doe.louisiana.gov

10. Quality Indicators for Literacy Access#1: Assessment • Standardized test materials • Alternate procedures for standard tests • Alternate tests and materials • Data-based recommendations • IEP team provided with clearly documented recommendations • Alternate method for writing (as needed) http://sda.doe.louisiana.gov/Site%20Pages/LiteracyView.aspx

11. Quality Indicators of Literacy: Assessment Matrix http://sda.doe.louisiana.gov/Site%20Pages/LiteracyView.aspx

14. Intervention Planning ToolErickson - STFLS Teacher Guide Where to Find It? Located on the Teacher Materials CD in every Purple STFLS kit

15. Start to Finish Literacy StartersDonnelly, Erickson, Musselwhite, Stemach www.donjohnston.com/products/start_to_finish/literacy

16. Literacy Starters3 story typesEnrichmentTransitionalConventional

17. Intervention Planning ToolErickson - STFLS Teacher Guide Background: support for Start-to-Finish Literacy Starters (STFLS) Profile: helps teachers determine students reading profile Prescriptive Assessment: supports in developing a plan to move students along the continuum toward conventional literacy

18. Intervention Planning ToolErickson - STFLS Teacher Guide Continuum included for: Concepts About Print . . . Independent Reading Alphabet Principle . . . Word Identification Oral Language . . . Comprehension Phonological Awareness. . . Phonemic Awareness / Phonics

19. Intervention Planning ToolExample Directions: Review Reader Profile descriptions Check each box that describes what the reader is doing NOW Look at each profile from L - R; Find the column farthest to the right with 2 or more checks; Circle appropriate quarter marker. 4) Look at interventions in selected column and those to right to guide intervention planning for this reader

20. Intervention Planning ToolConcepts About Print . . . Independent Reading Note: • Left to right columns • Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 under each column • Review & update Reader Profile each quarter • Use a different color pen each quarter, to track progress

22. SampleInterventions:Concepts About PrintTransitional

24. SampleInterventions:AlphabeticPrinciple -Word IDConventional

27. SampleInterventions:Oral Language - Comprehension Emergent

29. SampleInterventions:Phonological Awareness -PhonicsTransitional

30. HELP!!! More support, Please!!

31. Vocabulary Cards

32. Erickson - STFLS Teacher GuideLots More Support!!

33. Vocabulary Cards

34. Erickson - STFLS Teacher GuideLots More Support!!

35. Even more support . . . Always Activities

36. Always Activities

37. Always Activities

38. Early Literacy Checklists
Musselwhite & King-DeBaun Range of Checklists, including: •Checklist of Emergent Literacy Skills (50 items) Early Literacy Checklist (2 pp) Story Listening Observation Story Enjoyment Observation Oral/Device Reading Observation Story Comprehension / Play General Story Comprehension

39. Early Literacy Checklists
Musselwhite & King-DeBaun Where to find the checklists? Shop on your own bookshelf first!! www.creativecommunicating.com www.mayerjohnson.com

40. Early Literacy Engagement Progress Monitoring ChecklistKing-DeBaun, 2006 • Observation by teacher, parent, therapist • Permits 5 observations across 1 - 3 years • Some checklists are designed for students with the most significant cognitive delays • Very straightforward observation codes www.creativecommunicating.com (look for Progress Monitoring)

41. Early Literacy ChecklistKing-DeBaun, 20062-page ChecklistPlus Manual

42. Early Literacy ChecklistSample Items & Rubric

44. Early Literacy ChecklistKing-DeBaun, 200632-page Manual

45. Early Literacy Checklist ManualSample Item + Goal + Ideas

46. Early Literacy Checklist ManualSample Item + Goal + Ideas

48. Developmental Spelling Test • Helps us understand what students know about the letter / sound system • Useful for charting progress across time • Supports targeting instruction by learning what students know, and what is confusing to them

49. Gentry’s Developmental Spelling Stages • PRECOMMUNICATIVE SPELLING is the “babbling” stage of spelling. Children use letters for writing words but the letters are strung together randomly. The letters in precommunicative spelling do not correspond to sounds. Examples: OPSPS = eagle; RTAT = eighty. • SEMIPHONETIC SPELLERS know that letters represent sounds. They perceive and represent reliable sounds with letters in a type of telegraphic writing. Spellings are often abbreviated representing initial and/or final sound. Examples: E = eagle; a = eighty. • PHONETIC SPELLERS spell words like they sound. The speller perceives and represents all of the phonemes in a word, though spellings may be unconventional. Examples: EGL = eagle; ATE = eighty. • TRANSITIONAL SPELLERS think about how words appear visually; a visual memory of spelling patterns is apparent. Spellings exhibit conventions of English orthography like vowels in every syllable, e-marker and vowel digraph patterns, correctly spelled inflectional endings, and frequent English letter sequences. Examples: EGIL = eagle; EIGHTEE = eighty. • CONVENTIONAL SPELLERS develop over years of word study and writing. Correct spelling can be categorized by instruction levels. For example, correct spelling for a corpus…words that can be spelled by the average fourth grader would be fourth grade level correct spelling. Place the word in this category if is listed correctly.