Making Assessment Matter Using Test Results to Differentiate Reading Instruction

All too often, literacy assessments are given only for accountability purposes and fail to be seen as valuable resources for planning and differentiating instruction. This clear, concise book shows K-5 educators how to implement a comprehensive, balanced assessment battery that integrates accountability concerns with data-driven instruction. Teachers learn to use different types of test scores to understand and address students' specific learning needs. The book features an in-depth case example of a diverse elementary school that serves many struggling readers and English language learners. Reproducible planning and progress monitoring forms can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2 x 11 size.

I. Foundational Issues for Data-Driven Instruction
1. A New Relationship with Student Data
2. Why Many Readers Fail
3. An Assessment Battery That Works
II. Assessment Considerations for Special Populations
4. Assessment to Support Struggling Readers
5. Considerations for Linguistically Diverse Students
III. Action Steps for Improved Instruction
6. Identifying Instructional Priorities and Designing Effective Instruction
7. Putting Schoolwide Response to Intervention in Place
8. Leading Data-Driven Instruction

Nonie K. Lesaux, PhD, is the Juliana W. and William Foss Thompson Professor of Education and Society at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her developmental and experimental research on school-age children and youth investigates language, reading, and social–emotional development; classroom quality and academic growth; and strategies for accelerating language and reading comprehension. With Stephanie M. Jones, Dr. Lesaux is also codirector of the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative and coprincipal investigator of the Early Learning Study at Harvard. She is a recipient of the William T. Grant Scholars Award and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Dr. Lesaux has served on the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council’s Committee on the Science of Children Birth to Age 8. Sky H. Marietta, EdD, is the Curriculum and Instruction Specialist at Pine Mountain Settlement School, a not-for-profit organization focused on improving opportunities for children in Appalachia, and a research fellow at Berea College. Previously, she was a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her work examines connections between language, culture, poverty, and reading achievement, with a special emphasis on rural populations and science literacy. A former elementary teacher, Dr. Marietta has worked with numerous teachers and districts on implementing efficient and informative literacy assessment systems. She is coauthor with Nonie K. Lesaux of Making Assessment Matter.