How and Why the DRA Connects Everything

Presentation by Kelly Ford

Fred Carrigg and Associates, LLC

Discuss

•What do good readers do?(handout)

http://connect.pearsonlearning.com/c2dra/index.cfm

The DRA2 Assesses:

• Reading engagement– How do they feel about reading? Can they talk

about a favorite book? Identify their strengths and weaknesses as a reader?

• Oral reading fluency– Decoding skills, problem solving unknown words

• Comprehension– How much do they understand? Bloom’s

taxonomy scaffolding…HOW do I teach the 7 power standards (comprehension strategies)

7 Comprehension Strategies

1. Activating background knowledge

2. Questioning the text

3. Drawing inferences (to make predictions)

4. Determining importance

5. Creating mental images (visualizing)

6. Repairing when understanding breaks down

7. Synthesizing/Evaluation: new understanding into their lives and world view.

DRA2 Cannot Stand Alone

• What happens before and after the assessment is most important.

– Used to guide instruction

– “Focus For Instruction” identifies what students need to learn next

– Writing plays a reciprocal role with reading

Four Stages of Reading Development

• Emergent

• Early

• Transitional

• Extending

What is a student able to do in each stage?

Difficulty in Levels

• Levels 28-38– Topics and themes go beyond reader’s experience,

problem solve words using knowledge of root words and affixes, student must now write the summary instead of oral retell, deeper development of character, setting, plot/ or information.

• Levels 40-80– Increasing difficulty of text and background knowledge

needed (handout of page 121 from teacher’s guide)

Comprehension score is 19

The Focus For Instruction

drives student’s purpose in your guided reading groups.

Choose 3 to 5 strategies based upon weak areas.

Demonstration

Tier 1 to Tier 2 Purpose for Reading: What is the most important part of this passage?

(Important vs. Unimportant)

___________________

Watch how we tie the Tier 3 focus plan into the general guided reading discussion.

Discuss

What questions came up during the demonstration?

Track student progress to ensure growth.(If mastered, move on to new skill on same level OR higher level with

same skill. Spend approx. 3 weeks on each skill.)

Progress Monitoring Record for Language Arts Literacy

General Ed LAL Teacher: Jones           Student: Mark Ford        

LAL Co-Teacher:   Smith           School Year: 2011          

Progress Key* Grade: 9 Most recent NJ-ASK

LAL Score: 189

See sample handout

Final Points• The most accurate DRA2 profile is a record of several DRA2s given over

time.

• Progress can made within the same level on the Continuum rubric.

• Find the Independent level, but instruct one level higher so the student continues to encounter more challenging texts and grow as a reader.

• The Focus for Instruction gives you step by step instructions for teaching each comprehension strategy – use it as a basis for your lessons, guided reading groups, and tier 3 interventions!

• Track student progress using the Progress Monitoring Record.