How Do Teachers Assess Content Knowledge When Reading is the Barrier?

The coaching goal for one of my 5th grade teachers was to capture content knowledge for students who were reading below grade level. These were the kids that struggled with content vocabulary, multi-syllabic words, and fluency. We centered our attention on Science.

One student that she was concerned about was Leo, who struggled significantly with reading decoding and fluency. The previous week, students were given a written chapter test on ecosystems. Since this assessment relied heavily on reading comprehension and written expression, Leo failed. In complete contrast, during class discussions and hands-on experiments, Leo is the first to correctly predict how introducing a new predator will affect the food web. Not only that, but I could see his excitement during class time.

Leo clearly knew the content, but on the assessment, was unable to show it.

When students read below grade level, traditional assessments often measure their reading ability rather than their instructional content knowledge. If we want an accurate picture of what a student knows about the subject being taught, we must “decouple” the assessment of content from the mechanical act of reading and writing.

Remove the barrier.

We had to shift the assessment strategy to focus on knowledge, not just decoding and fluency.

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Inclusiveology supports teachers and school communities in including every child learning. When we remove barriers and give learners a space to be successful, it's helping to move kids forward. And that's always a win.

CLICK HERE for a time for us to connect.

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The objective of the written assessment was for students to demonstrate an understanding of how energy flows in an ecosystem and predict the impact of introducing a new predator (a wolf) to an existing food web (deer) and how the deer population changed.

Here’s what we decided for Leo, taking into consideration his strengths:

Instead of writing about the ecosystem and the introduction of the predator, Leo created a digital model and orally narrated the changes. He used Padlet (the digital whiteboard), visual images of the organisms (wolves, deer, grass, etc.) scattered on the screen, and arrows. Leo dragged the images into place and drew the arrows to show the energy flow without the predator. To disrupt the energy flow, a peer dragged a "new predator" image (the wolf) into the web.

Finally, Leo turned on the Screen Record/Microphone feature to further capture his knowledge. He uses the laser pointer tool to circle the animals that will be eaten and verbally explains: "Since the wolves eat deer, the deer population will go down. Because there are fewer deer, the grass might grow taller because fewer animals are eating it."

The result? A total WIN for Leo and a glimpse into new possibilities for learners to show what they know that don’t rely on reading comprehension and writing, especially in content area subjects.

Can you imagine how many other students would appreciate this type of assessment? It’s not just for Leo…

When a student reads below grade level, their Reading score should not be their Science score! By offering choices and utilizing technology to bypass decoding, we gain a much better understanding of what they actually know. It’s in shifting our approach so we can see the student's actual knowledge.

Inclusiveology supports teachers and school communities in including every child learning. When we remove barriers and give learners a space to be successful, it's helping to move kids forward. And that's always a win.

CLICK HERE for a time for us to connect.