Primary Reading Assessments

In December 2015 the US Department of Education passed a law that did away with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and passed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and left all remaining aspects up the the states. If you weren't aware, NCLB had many criticisms because it expected teachers to spend more time on testing than on teaching. The Act only focused on students who were academically below average and didn't consider the students who might be above average. It was developed to close the achievement gap and many provisions were made throughout the 14 years of its' existence. ESSA is a similar act but it places more accountability on the states. This is where it gets interesting.

Since I started teaching in Texas, I have been required to test students using two primary reading assessments, Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) and Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) at the beginning, middle, and end of each academic year. I know all educators love acronyms, right? ;) After my district became aware of the changes in the educational act, our reading assessment requirements have changed. We are now only required to administer the TPRI at the beginning, middle and end, and the DRA only at the beginning of each year.



We held a campus-wide discussion to decide whether or not we were still going to administer the DRA in the middle and end of each year. As with anything of importance, there are a wide range of opinions. Many teachers aren't planning on administering more than the required beginning of the year test because ESSA is trying to cut down time spent testing and allow more time to teach. Other teachers are going to give the reading assessment all throughout the year but agree that not having deadlines is a nice weight off their shoulders.

Honestly, I have a split opinion. Who wouldn't want the opportunity to spend less time sitting at a kidney table testing individual students, recording results, and collecting and entering data? I love the fact our district is choosing to give us back that valuable teaching time. Hey, every minute in our day counts. But on the other hand, my entire classroom library is leveled based on DRA levels. Part of me feels that finding out the student's reading level is crucial to selecting the right books for them to read independently.

So, here I am writing this blog post seeing what y'all think about these changes?

No comments