International Reading AssociationAtlanta GA, May 2008

Dr. Ernest Balajthy, State University of New York at Geneseo

(PowerPoint file is available at www.geneseo.edu/~balajthy/IRA2008)

TRADITIONAL

Genre studyLamentThanksgiving HymnRoyalWisdomImprecatory PraiseAscent

WALTER BRUEGGEMANN

Orientation

Disorientation

New Orientation

Orientation

Disorientation

New Orientation

--Mindstorms (Seymour Papert) (LOGO)--Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI)

--Myriad possible applications of technology; rapidly changing technology

--Word processing--Multimedia--Research??Collaborative technologies????Assessment technologies??________________________?________________________?

What assessment technologies have the most promise to make significant changes in the classroom?

Detailed testing/tracking of student progress; Online access to student scores

Stanford-10 Renaissance Place

Realities of classroom life

Non-use of technology:

Assessments that that have no classroom application are wastes of time

Possible Solutions:

* Diagnostic/individualized testing only for struggling readers

How much diagnostic information do we need?

New Orientati

on

Criterion-referenced report of “Diagnostic” component of Acuity (McGraw-Hill)

Renaissance Place tiers of learning assessment

Sample vocabulary test screen page from STAR Reading.

Sample comprehension test screen page from Scholastic Reading Inventory.

Unavailability of web-connected computers; negative view of normed assessment

Non-use of technology

Much greater availability of web-connected technology

Education about the usefulness of normed testing; relationship to state testing

Awareness of CAT time savings

Does it pay to switch to web-based assessment?

New Orientati

on

Web-based assessment

Computer Adaptive Tests (CAT):STAR SRI

Other Computer-Administered Tests:BEARAcuity

Emphasis on authentic response to reading; lack of commitment to wide reading

Non-use of technology

Balance of authentic & pedagogical responses to reading

Education about the extensive nature of effective recreational reading programs

Should my school use a recreational management testing system?

New Orientati

on

Recreational reading management systems

Accelerated ReaderScholastic’s Reading CountsBookadventure.org

Commitment to wide reading

Nassim Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Dr. Ernest Balajthy (pronounced buh-LAY-thee) is Professor of Education and Program Director of the faculty of reading and literacy at the State University of New York at Geneseo. Balajthy’s key research interests include: 1) Technology in reading and literacy. Balajthy is the author of almost 100 articles on technology. He edited the “Issues in Technology” column in the journal Reading and Writing Quarterly for almost ten years, and he presently is co-editor (with Rebecca Anderson of the University of Memphis) of the “Technology in Literacy Education” column in The Reading Teacher. He is the author of two of the earliest books on use of personal computers in school, Microcomputers in Reading and Language Arts (Prentice Hall, 1986) and Computers in Reading: Lessons from the Past and the Technologies of the Future (Prentice Hall, 1989). 2) Secondary reading, content area reading, comprehension and metacomprehension. 3) Clinical reading instruction and assessment. Balajthy is the author (with Sally Lipa) of the Guilford textbook, Struggling Readers: Assessment and Instruction in Grades K-6 (2003). His article on assessment and technology will appear in the journal The Reading Teacher in 2007.

Ella Cline Shear School of EducationState University of New York at GeneseoGeneseo NY 14454balajthy@geneseo.eduwww.geneseo.edu/~balajthy

Alvermann, D.E. (2004). Seeing and then seeing again. Journal of Literacy Research, 36, 289-302.

Balajthy, E. (2002). Information technology and literacy assessment.” Reading and Writing Quarterly, 18, 369-373.

Balajthy, E. (1989). Computers and reading: lessons from the past and the technologies of the future. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Balajthy, E. (2007). Technology and current reading/literacy assessment strategies. The Reading Teacher, 61, 240-247.

Bonhoeffer, D. (1974). Psalms: The prayer book of the Bible. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg. Retrieved September 7, 2007, from http://books.google.com/books?id=bdRcyeUsG_4C&pg=PA56&dq=imprecatory+psalms&sig=EauBNXi6udfo27x5WEE_vAxV_WM#PPA56,M1

Brueggemann, W. (2002). Spirituality of the Psalms. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress. Chall, J.S. 1983. Stages of reading development. New York: McGraw-Hill. Gunkel, H. (1998). Introduction to Psalms: The genres of the religious lyric of

Israel (J.D. Nogalski, Trans.). Macon, GA: Mercer University Press (Original work published 1926)

National Reading Panel. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Reports of the subgroups. Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Clearinghouse. National Science Board. (2006). Science and engineering indicators 2006.

Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. Retrieved September 12, 2007, from http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/

Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas (2nd ed.). New York: Basic Books.

Taleb, N.N. (2005). The black swan: The impact of the highly improbable. New York: Random House.