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Early Language and Literacy Observation and Assessment Tools

The following is a sample of resources that provide information about early language and literacy observation and assessment tools for preschoolers.

Language and Literacy Specific Assessment Tools

  • Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO)
    World Wide Web: http://www.brookespublishing.com/store/books/smith-ellco/index.htm

    ELLCO is a classroom observation tool for prekindergarten through 3rd grade that specifically addresses the role of environmental factors in early literacy and language development. It is useful for conducting a baseline assessment as well as determining progress in providing learning environments that are age appropriate, support children’s evolving interests, and with the intentional direction of the teacher, engage children in exploring beyond their current knowledge and skills.
    • Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO) Toolkit, developed by Marion W. Smith and David K. Dickerson in collaboration with Angela Sangeorge and Louisa Anastasopoulos, published by Brooke Publishing, includes the following components: a Literacy Environment Checklist (15–20-minute orientation to the classroom); Classroom Observation and Teacher Interview (20–45-minute observation; 10-minute interview); Literacy Activities Rating Scale (10-minute book reading and writing summary); and User’s Guide. This resource is available from Brookes Publishing on the Web at http://www.brookespublishing.com/store/books/smith-ellco/index.htm.
  • Early Literacy Advisor (ELA)
    Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
    2550 South Parker Road, Suite 500
    Aurora, CO 80014
    303-337-0990
    World Wide Web: http://www.mcrel.org/programs/literacy/ela/index.asp

    ELA is a research-based assessment system that assists classroom teachers in assessing and promoting early literacy development in children ages 4–6. Using a simple, user-friendly testing process, ELA creates an informative student profile that combines an in-depth analysis of a child’s current level of literacy development with individualized, research-based teaching suggestions. Profiles are delivered to teachers within days, making them useful for immediate, powerful intervention and as a tool to gauge student’s progress toward State and local standards.

    The core of the ELA is its JAVA-based "expert system," an artificial intelligence system that emulates the decision-making process of master teachers. This system makes connections between raw assessment data and developmentally appropriate teaching techniques, assisting teachers in selecting strategies most likely to advance the literacy development of each student. The ELA also tracks each student’s results and builds a personal database.
  • Get Ready to Read! Screening Tool
    The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD)
    381 Park Avenue South, Suite 1401
    New York, NY 10016
    888-575-7373
    World Wide Web: http://www.getreadytoread.org

    The Get Ready to Read! campaign was launched by the NCLD in 2001. It is a nationwide campaign to provide parents and early childhood care providers with understanding of the skills and knowledge 4-year-olds need to be ready to learn to read in kindergarten. One part of this initiative is the development of this research-based screening tool.

    The Screening Tool is a 20-item instrument that focuses on the "inside-out" skills in three areas: print knowledge, emergent writing, and linguistic awareness. By pointing to a series of icons, children can demonstrate skills in these areas. The tool is a reliable, research-based series of questions for children in the year before they enter kindergarten to determine whether they have the early literacy skills they need to become readers. The Screening Tool development was led by Grover J. Whitehurst. Additional information about the tool is available on the Web at http://www.familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,63-25466,00.html. Evaluation Findings from National Demonstrations: 2001-2003: Executive Summary (November 2003) is available on the Web at http://www.getreadytoread.org/pdf/NationalReportFinal.pdf.
  • Head Start – National Reporting System (NRS)
    World Wide Web: http://www.esilsg.org/NRStraining/index.htm

    NRS is designed on the basis of President Bush’s Early Childhood Initiative, Good Start, Grow Smart, and provisions of the Head Start Act to create a new national database on the progress and accomplishments of 4- and 5-year-old Head Start children on specific child outcomes. Programs will administer a common NRS assessment to all 4- and 5-year-old children at the beginning and end of the program year in order to determine some of the skills with which they enter Head Start, their levels of achievement when they leave Head Start and the progress they make during the Head Start year. The NRS child assessment will provide information on the following five learning indicators:
    • Understanding and using language to communicate for various purposes.
    • Using increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.
    • In the case of children whose native language is other than English, progressing toward acquisition of the English language.
    • Identifying at least 10 letters of the alphabet.
    • Numeracy awareness.
  • Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS PreK)
    853 West Main Street, Suite 104
    P.O. Box 800785
    Charlottesville, VA 22908-8785
    888-UVA-PALS (882-7257) or 434-982-2780
    World Wide Web:http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/centers/pals/home.html

    PALS PreK is a phonological awareness and literacy screening tool that measures young children’s literacy knowledge. The tasks of the assessment reflect those skills that are predictive of children’s future reading success. An awareness of rhyme and beginning sounds, the ability to name letters of the alphabet, familiarity with books and print and name writing are fundamental components of the learning-to-read process for children in preschool. The assessment scores indicate a child’s strengths and those areas that require more direct attention. PALS-PreK identifies those children who may be at risk for future reading difficulties and supports teachers’ classroom literacy activities and instructional practices.

    PALS-PreK assesses children’s growing literacy knowledge in specific detail. It assesses a child’s phonological awareness, specifically rhyme and beginning sound. PALS-PreK also assesses children’s ability to recognize uppercase letters. Lowercase letter recognition is assessed for those children who are familiar with 16 or more uppercase forms. Verbal memory is assessed when the child listens to a short rhyming poem, using pictures as a guide. Children demonstrate their familiarity with print by identifying different print features and by interacting with a book in a real reading context. The concept of word task measures children’s ability to point to the words in a memorized rhyme. The PALS PreK also includes a name-writing task.
  • Teacher Rating of Oral Language and Literacy (TROLL)
    Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA)
    University of Michigan, School of Education, Room 2002 SEB
    60 East University Avenue
    Ann Arbor, MI 48109-6940
    734-647-6940
    World Wide Web: http://www.ciera.org

    The Teacher Rating of Oral Language and Literacy (TROLL) is a rating tool developed by David Dickinson to provide preschool teachers with a way to track the language and literacy development of individual children in their classrooms. TROLL correlates significantly with scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Early Phonemic Awareness Profile. TROLL contains three subscales: (a) language use, (b) reading, and (c) writing. Introductory questions determine the language(s) the child speaks and his or her comprehension and production abilities in English. Teachers are given the opportunity to rate English and native language competence. The tool has 25 items, and teachers can do the rating in five–ten minutes without prior training. The following resource describes the tool and includes the TROLL tool in the Appendix:

    Teacher Rating of Oral Language and Literacy (TROLL): A Research- Based Tool (September 2001), by David Dickinson, Allyssa McCabe, and Lowell Kim Sprague, published by the Center for the Improvement of Early Literacy (CIERA), describes the development and use of TROLL. The rating tool is represented in its entirety in the Appendix. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.ciera.org/library/reports/inquiry-3/3-016/3-016.pdf.

Multi-Domain Assessment Tools

  • The Creative Curriculum
    Teaching Strategies, Inc.
    P.O. Box 42243
    Washington, DC 20015
    800-637-3652
    World Wide Web: http://www.teachingstrategies.com

    The Creative Curriculum® Developmental Continuum Assessment Toolkit for Ages 3-5 is a complete assessment system directly correlated to the goals and objectives of The Creative Curriculum®. The Toolkit features The Creative Curriculum® Developmental Continuum, which is a valid and reliable assessment tool. The system allows teachers to conduct authentic assessment that is based on observations taken during everyday classroom activities. It offers a strengths-based approach that gives teachers the tools to collect information and analyze children’s progress as part of demonstrating program outcomes and management accountability goals and objectives. It also cover the Head Start domains and required domain elements and indicators. The Toolkit may be used on its own or with the software reporting tool, CC-PORT (The Creative Curriculum Progress and Outcomes Reporting Tool). In addition, the CreativeCurriculum.net system combines the comprehensive assessment tools of The Creative Curriculum Developmental Continuum Assessment Toolkit for Ages 3-5 with online communication features. It can organize information in ways that can instantly generate many customized reports for all stakeholders. Additional information about the assessment system is available on the Web at http://www.teachingstrategies.com/pages/page.cfm?pageid=31.
  • Galileo Preschool
    Assessment Technology, Inc.
    5099 East Grant Road, Suite 331
    Tucson, AZ 85712
    800-367-4762
    World Wide Web: http://63.172.114.196/galileoPreschool/overview/index.htm

    Galileo is a comprehensive early childhood knowledge management system, which makes it possible to document, track, and report preferred information on children, staff, families, and volunteers. Galileo Online integrates assessment and the documentation of outcomes with eLesson Planning and eCurriculum features. Galileo offers an advanced approach for the Electronic Management of Learning (EML), including Merlin, a child and family case management system; the Parent Center, which generates four individualized reports that tell parents about what a child has learned at preschool and about a child’s readiness to learn new capabilities in a given developmental area, such as language and literacy or early math; and Storyteller Center, which provides learning opportunities and objective assessment directly articulated to Instructional Goals. Galileo G-2 has stand-alone technology (available on CD-ROM) that connects assessment, screening, lesson planning, classroom activities, and outcome documentation. The following resources have information about the Galileo management system:
  • "Head Start Improves the Pre-reading Skills of Poor Children" (March 2003), in Concerning Kids, by KidsOhio.org, highlights efforts to measure early learning progress of children in Ohio’s Head Start programs. Using Galileo, a computer-based assessment system, teachers document the skills that children demonstrate during daily program activities. One program documented a twelve-fold increase in the percentage of children who could demonstrate at least 47 specific language and literacy skills by years’ end; only 4 percent of children demonstrated this level of skills at the beginning of the year. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.kidsohio.org/concerningkids/pdf/CK_HeadStart_Mar-03.pdf.
  • The High/Scope Child Observation Record (COR) ®
    High/Scope Foundation
    600 North River Street
    Ypsilanti, MI 48198-2898
    734-485-2000, ext. 218
    World Wide Web: http://www.highscope.org/Assessment/cor.htm

    The High/Scope Foundation is an independent, nonprofit, research, development, training, and public advocacy organization. In a High/Scope® program, students learn through active involvement with people, materials, events, and ideas. High/Scope’s Cognitively Oriented Preschool Curriculum represents an attempt to construct a developmentally valid educational framework for young children.

    The High/Scope COR for Ages 2½-6 is an observational assessment tool that charts children’s development and progress over time. COR assessment areas include language, mathematics, initiative, social relations, creative representation, and music and movement. The COR assesses the ways in which young children initiate their own activities as well as how they respond to teacher questions and demands. It can be used in a variety of early childhood settings. Components of the COR Assessment Kit are the following items: COR Manual; COR Assessment Booklets; COR Anecdotal Notecards; COR Parent Report Forms; and COR poster.

    The High/Scope COR for Infants and Toddlers looks at the whole child—highlighting broad areas of development for children from the ages of 6 weeks to 3 years. It can help caregivers gather, organize, document, use, and learn from observations of children within the context of everyday life at the center or home setting. This information can also be shared easily, accurately, and effectively with parents and others.
    Additional related resources available from High/Scope include:
    • Planning Around the High/Scope Child Observation Record (COR) Categories, Items, and Levels — Strategies and Activities to Support Child Development;
    • Using the High/Scope COR to Assess and Report Head Start Outcomes;
    • Program Quality Assessment Instrument (PQA); and
    • Using the High/Scope Child Observation Record in Head Start Classrooms and Centers.
  • Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDI)
    Center for Early Education Development
    College of Education and Human Development
    University of Minnesota
    215 Pattee Hall, 150 Pillsbury Drive SE
    Minneapolis, MN 55455
    612-625-2898
    World Wide Web: http://ggg.umn.edu

    IGDIs are quick, efficient, and repeatable measures of components of developmental performance. They sample child performance in major developmental domains (i.e., language, social, cognitive, motor, and adaptive), with a special emphasis on assessment related to long-term developmental outcomes that are common across the early childhood years. They are functional and are related to later competence in home, school, and community settings. These indicators measure young children’s growth over time toward important developmental outcomes rather than just their skill level at one point in time. Preschool IGDIs are intended for children between the chronological ages of 30 months and 6 years of age. Early elementary IGDIs are intended for children between the ages of 5 and 8, or roughly from prior to kindergarten entry through the end of 2nd grade.

    IGDI    s can be used by psychologists, teachers, and other program staff who want to measure, record, and act on information about young children’s rate of growth and development toward long-term, developmentally important goals. This assessment may be completed to monitor children not receiving specialized intervention, to identify children who might benefit from such intervention, and to monitor the effects of such intervention.
  • The Marazon Systems
    MAPS For Life
    P.O. Box 667
    Perrysburg, OH 43552
    419-661-1945
    World Wide Web: http://www.marazon.com/default.htm

    The Marazon Systems (Classroom System, Home Visitor System, Family Child Care System, Christian System, and Parent System) are developmentally appropriate planning and assessment systems designed for a variety of educational settings for children of all ages. The Systems provide parents and professionals with the tools to support and challenge children’s growth, development, and learning. The Marazon System is focused on describing children’s interests and developmental characteristics, and is used in the every day curriculum of the home, school, and the community to support and challenge their interests and development. The system celebrates 96 child development characteristics across six domains or areas of the child’s growth. The six domains are Affective (relating to self), Social (relating to others), Creative (originating from self), Cognitive (thinking), Language (communicating), and Physical (doing). The four steps of The System—Plan, Environment, Assessment, and Partnership—assist practitioners in developing intentional plans to help children grow and develop as individuals according to their gifts.

    The comprehensive nature of The Marazon System enables teachers to observe children throughout the week to achieve the following tasks related to authentic assessment and individualized planning: record one to two anecdotes per day; interpret the anecdotes according to the 96 Target Objectives that same day; composite or summarize the Target Objectives onto the Child Assessment and Planning Tally that same day; review each child’s Assessment and Planning Tally prior to planning each week; develop Individual and Group Domain Plans based on data gathered related to children’s emerging needs and interests; and arrange the environment, interact with the children, and conference with families either formally or spontaneously.
  • The Work Sampling System
    Rebus, Inc.
    P.O. Box 4479
    Ann Arbor, MI 48106-4479
    800-435-3085
    World Wide Web: http://www.pearsonearlylearning.com/index2.html

    The Work Sampling System is an ongoing classroom performance assessment system that is used in preschool through 5th grade. Its purpose is to document children’s skills, knowledge, behavior, and accomplishments across a wide variety of curriculum areas on multiple occasions in order to enhance teaching and learning. Curriculum areas include personal and social development, language and literacy, mathematical thinking, scientific thinking, social studies, the arts, and physical development.

    • Teachers using the Work Sampling Observational Assessment observe children with the Developmental Guidelines; record classroom observations efficiently using reproducible process note forms included in Using Work Sampling Guidelines and Checklists: An Observational Assessment teacher’s manual; document learning by completing a grade-level Developmental Checklist for each child three times per year; and report to parents three times per year and maintain school records of student achievement with the optional Work Sampling Report to Parents.

Additional Resources

  • Reading Assessment Database for Grades K-2, by Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL), is a searchable database that describes in detail all available early reading assessment tools that are published and distributed in the SEDL region. It is intended to provide valuable information about all of the options available to teachers and administrators who are seeking reliable reading assessment tools for children in grades pre-K to 3. (The RCI initiative at SEDL focuses on grades K–2, but pre-K and 3rd grade assessments were included in this database because sometimes assessments at those levels are appropriate to use with K–2 students.). Access to the database is available on the Web at http://www.sedl.org/reading/rad/database.html. The Summary Chart links to the each Criterion Reference Assessment and lists the cost, grades tested, and cognitive elements evaluated by the assessment. This chart is available on the Web at http://www.sedl.org/reading/rad/chart.html.
  • Early Childhood Measures Profiles (2004), by Lisa J. Bridges, Daniel J. Berry, Rosalind Johnson, Julia Calkins, Nancy Geyelin Margie, Stephanie W. Cochran, Thomson J. Ling, Martha J. Zaslow, Allison Sidle Fuligni, and Christy Brady-Smith, published by Child Trends, presents a compendium of common measures that were developed to provide psychometric data about a range of outcome domains. This compendium contains approaches to learning measures, general cognitive measures, language measures, literacy measures, math measures, ongoing observational measures, social-emotional measures, and Early Head Start Measures. A description is provided for each measure that includes background information, administration of measure, functioning of measure, examples of studies examining measure in relation to environmental variation,” and adaptations of measure. In discussing recommended literacy-related assessments, it states:

    Based on review of assessment tools available using criteria presented above, the following instruments have been recommended as appropriate for use within the state of Kentucky. These instruments are categorized in one of two ways. Single-domain instruments are those that assess one specific area of development or one domain. Multi-domain instruments are those that can be used to assess children’s development across domains or developmental areas.

    Multi Domain
    Diagnostic

    • Batelle Developmental Inventory (BDI), Riverside Publishing, Inc.
    • Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-III), The Psychological Corp.
    • Developmental Assessment of Young Children (DAYC), PRO-ED
    • Learning Accomplishment Profile – Diagnostic (LAP – D), Kaplan Early Learning Co.
    • Merrill Palmer Revised Scales of Development, Stoelting, Co.
    • Mullen Scale of Early Learning, American Guidance Service, Inc.
    • Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI), Center for Rehabilitation Effectiveness
    • Scales of Independent Behavior – Revised (SIB – R), Riverside Publishing
    • Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VBAS), American Guidance Service, Inc.

    Single Domain
    Language

    • Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF), The Psychological Corp.
    • Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, American Guidance Service, Inc.
    • Goldman Fristoe Test Articulation, American Guidance Service, Inc.
    • Expressive Vocabulary Test, American Guidance Service, Inc.
    • Kaufman Survey of Early Academic and Language Skills (K SEALS), American Guidance Service, Inc.
    • Oral Written Language Scale (OWLS), American Guidance Service, Inc.
    • Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test III (PPVT-III), American Guidance Service, Inc.
    • Preschool Language Scale IV (PLS-IV), The Psychological Corp.
    • Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale III, Linguisystems

    Reading/Literacy

    • Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA) III, PRO-ED
      • (page Diagnostic 7)

This resource is available on the Web at http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/ECMeasures04/report.pdf.

  • "Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Emergent Literacy Skills Assessments" in "Standardized Assessment of Children’s Emergent Literacy Skills"(in press) in Handbook on Family Literacy: Research and Services, by Christopher J. Lonigan, Kimberly D. Keller ,and Beth M. Phillips of the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR), ed. B. Wasik, published byLawrence Erlbaum Associates, is a summary of standardized assessments including: Bracken Basic Concept Scale–Revised (BBCS-R), Boehm Test of Basic Concepts-Revised (Boehm-R), Clinical Evaluations of Language Fundamentals-Preschool (CELF-P), Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP), Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIEBELS), Developing Skills Checklist (DISC), Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test (EOWPVT-III), Linadmood Auditory Conceptualization Test (LAC), Oral Written and Language Scales (OWLS), Phonological Awareness and Literacy Screenings-PreK (PALS-PreK), Phonological Awareness Test (PAT), Preschool Language Scale-Fourth Edition (PLS-IV), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-III), Preschool Comprehensive Test of Phonological and Print Processing (Pre-CTOPPP), Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test (ROWPVT-III), Test of Early Reading Ability-3 (TERA-3), Test of Language Development-Primary; 3rd Edition (TOLD-P-3), Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities and Achievement (WJ-III), and Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised (WRMT-R). The assessments are summarized in terms of appropriate age/grade, uses, psychometrics, administration time, and major components assessed. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.fcrr.org/assessment/PDFfiles/PreK_Kassessments.pdf.
  • Head Start: Curriculum Use and Individual Child Assessment in Cognitive and Language Development (September 2003) (GAO-03-1049), by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), formally conveys information provided during briefings on May 15, 2003 and June 6, 2003 to staff of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. It reports on the extent to which Head Start programs have made progress in meeting performance standards for cognitive and language development; the extent to which local Head Start programs’ use of curricula has changed since the performance standards for children’s cognitive and language development were issued; and the extent to which local Head Start programs have used teacher mentoring and individual child assessments to support curriculum planning. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d031049.pdf.
  • Early Literacy Assessment Systems: Essential Elements (June 2003), by Jacqueline Jones, Educational Testing Service, describes how assessment can support policy, teaching, and learning of those literacy skills that are the key determinants of individuals’ future educational success. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.ets.org/research/pic/earlylit.pdf.
  • "Appendix A: Child Assessment Battery" (March 2003), in Smart Start and Preschool Child Care Quality in North Carolina: Change Over Time and Relation to Children’s Readiness, by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, examines the relationship between Smart Start and center-based, preschool child care quality and children’s readiness for kindergarten in North Carolina. Language, literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional skills were assessed for 512 preschool children. The following language and literacy child measures were used in the study:

    Language and Literacy
    Color Names. This subtest was adapted and used with permission from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES; Zill & Resnick, 1998).

    Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - III, Form A     (PPVT). The PPVT was used to measure children’s receptive language skills (Dunn & Dunn, 1997).

    Letter Identification    . Children are shown 3 pages of letters randomly ordered and including all 26 letters of the alphabet. Children are asked to name any letters they know. Scores range from 0-26.

    Story and Print Concepts    . This subtest was adapted and used with permission from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES; Zill & Resnick, 1998).
    This resource is available on the Web at http://www.fpg.unc.edu/highlight_Detail.cfm?ID=189.

  • Research on Program Intensity and Duration (2003), by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), describes two studies nearing completion on the long-term effects of variations in the intensity and duration of early education experiences for urban children in New Jersey. The following measures are being used in the studies:

    Child outcome measures
    Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Third Edition (PPVT-III)
    Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery, Revised (WJ-R)

    Measures of classroom environment and teacher quality
    Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, Revised (ECERS-R)
    Supports for Early Literacy Assessment (SELA)
    Preschool Classroom Inventory (PCI)

    • Additional information is available on the Web at http://nieer.org/docs/index.php?DocID=13.

  • "Special Analyses on the Condition of Reading—Young Children’s Achievement and Classroom Experiences" (2003), by Kristin Denton, Jerry West, and Jill Walston, in The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS–K), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), assesses children’s reading skills and collects detailed information about children’s home literacy environment and the reading instruction they receive from their teachers and schools. The ECLS–K reading assessment covers a range of content areas and includes items that measure children’s various abilities, such as basic skills, vocabulary, and comprehension. This resource is available on the Web at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/2003067_Analysis.pdf.
  • Between the Lions® Mississippi Literacy Initiative: Project Overview and Research Findings (July 2002), investigated the effect of the Between the Lions Public Broadcasting System (PBS) series on the acquisition of early learning skills of children in low-income communities and children who may speak English as a second language. The study found that the children who watched half-hour episodes of Between the Lions regularly, and whose teachers had received specific training and carried out related activities, significantly out-performed control groups on several key reading skills. In discussing the measurement tools, it states:

    • The measures used to evaluate student progress were the Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA-3), the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-III), and the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)" (page 2).

    This resource is available on the Web at http://pbskids.org/readytolearn/btl.pdf.

  • Early Childhood Study of Language and Literacy Development of Spanish-Speaking Children: Theoretical Background and Preliminary Results (2002), by Patton O. Tabors, Mariela M. Páez, and Lisa M. López, Harvard Graduate School of Education, presentation at a National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) Conference, describes a study of the language proficiencies and early literacy skills in English and Spanish of children with varying levels of English and Spanish proficiency as they enter and exit prekindergarten programs and how these skills change between prekindergarten and 2nd grade. All assessments were in both languages. Assessment instruments used in the study include:
    • Discourse skill
    • Phonological awareness
    • TaskConcepts about print and listening comprehension
    • Vocabulary
    • Letter and word recognition
    • Writing and spelling
    • General language ability
    • Narrative Production Task (researcher-constructed)
    • Phonological Awareness (researcher-constructed)
    • Book Task (researacher-constructed)
    • WLPB-R Picture Vocabulary*
    • WLPB-R Letter-Word ID*
    • WLPB-R Dictation*
    • WLPB-R Memory for Sentences*

      *Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery-Revised
      This Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation is available on the Web at http://www.cal.org/acqlit/subproject1/Subpr1_Tabors_NABE_021.pdf.
  • An Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement (2002), by Marie M. Clay, published by Heinemann Educational Books, assesses a number of aspects of a child’s orientation to books and to written language, and is recommended for kindergarten and primary grade teachers. The aspects of the Concepts about Print survey that are especially relevant to the assessment of pre-reading (or emergent literacy) competencies are book orientation knowledge; principles involving the directional arrangement of print on the page; the knowledge that print contains the story; understanding of important reading terminology like word, letter, beginning of the sentence, top of the page, etc., and understanding of simple punctuation marks. Additional information is available on the Web at http://www.heinemann.com/shared/products/E00484.asp.
  • An Analysis of Early Literacy Assessments Used for Instruction (April 2001), by Samuel J. Meisels and Ruth A. Piker, published by the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA), presents an analysis of early literacy assessments designed by teachers and other educators for use in K–3 classrooms. This report presents the methodology and coding scheme used for collecting classroom-based measures and evaluating their content. It provides data about how reading and writing skills are assessed by teachers and shows the relationship between the skills included in these assessments and the skills associated with national standards and benchmarks. It also characterizes the instructional assessments teachers use in their classrooms to evaluate their students’ literacy performance in terms of the following: categories of skills assessed, types of assessment models utilized, differences in student responses elicited by the assessments, forms of administration, types of mental processing required of students, and other parameters. Issues concerning the psychometric properties of these assessments, their relationship to national standards, and their place in the instructional process for classroom teachers are discussed. This resource is available on the Web at http://www.ciera.org/library/reports/inquiry-2/2-013/2-013.html.
  • Growth in Children’s Literacy Skills in Head Start and Early Elementary School: Implications for Preschool Curricula (April 2001), by Nicholas Zill, Gary Resnick, and Kevin O’Donnell, uses longitudinal data from 1,613 children in the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) to test three hypotheses: (1) Children who leave preschool with more developed language and decoding skills will do better in elementary school and be further along the path to reading by the end of kindergarten; (2) The amount of benefit children derive from a preschool program is directly proportional to the quantity and quality of language-related activities in the program; and (3) Children who have received less language stimulation at home stand to gain more from literacy-related activities in preschool. The FACES child assessment appraised children’s cognitive and perceptual-motor development in areas such as word knowledge, letter recognition, and knowledge of book and print conventions. In discussing assessment, it states:

    • The FACES child assessment consisted of a series of tasks designed to appraise children’s cognitive and perceptual-motor development in areas such as word knowledge, letter recognition and knowledge of book and print conventions. These tasks have been shown to be predictive of later school achievement, especially of later reading proficiency and oral language skills (Horn & Packard, 1985; Snow et al, 1995; Pianta & McCoy, 1997). The present analysis used three literacy-related measures as dependent variables, namely, the measures of:

    • receptive vocabulary knowledge (the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Third Edition (PPVT-III), (Dunn & Dunn, 1997);
    • letter recognition (Letter-Word Identification task from the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised (WJ-R); and,
    • early writing skills (Dictation task from WJ-R).

… At the end of their kindergarten year, children in FACES were administered the Reading and General Knowledge assessments from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of a Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), conducted by the U.S. Department of Education (West, Denton, Germino-Hausken, 2000; Zill & West, 2000). (pp. 3–4)

This resource is available on the Web at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/core/ongoing_research/faces/postconference.pdf.

    Updated November 2004