Data Interpretation Guide
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INVENTORY ® Data Interpretation Perfect for RTI Guide Using Scholastic Phonics Inventory Data Effectively What Is Scholastic Phonics Inventory (SPI)? Scholastic Phonics Inventory (SPI) is a foundational reading assessment that measures the fluency of word- level reading for older struggling readers. SPI is an accurate and easy-to-administer assessment that helps educators answer the following questions: • Which students are in need of the most intensive, foundational level of intervention (in a Response to Intervention model, typically Tier III)? • Which students would benefit from an intervention that is focused on developing vocabulary, background knowledge, and reading comprehension skills (typically Tier II)? The SPI is administered individually via a personal computer in approximately 10 minutes, and contains three equivalent test forms to measure students’ growth during their foundational reading interventions. How Does SPI Work? SPI was designed to measure fluency for two word-level reading skills: phonological decoding and sight word reading. Both skills are assessed by the speed and accuracy of the students’ response in identifying target sight words or decoding pronounceable nonsense words. SPI also contains a testing section on identifying letter names. The scores from this section are used to determine if students understand the alphabetic principle. The scores from this section provide evidence as to which struggling readers require the deepest level of intervention. Each item in SPI has a timed response threshold—the time it takes a proficient reader to respond to the item. The item response thresholds range from 400 milliseconds to 2 seconds. Each of the test items has been empirically validated with the support of Dr. Richard Wagner, of Florida State University and the Florida Center for Reading Research. Dr. Wagner is the principal scientist for SPI and an author of Test of Word Reading Efficiancy (TOWRE). When a student engages in SPI, his or her response time is a critical component of the assessment. For this reason, students will need to understand that their focused attention and earnest effort will be instrumental to the accuracy of their score and eventual placement. The timing aspect in SPI can be disabled for students who, for a variety of reasons, cannot respond quickly. While the scoring criteria changes for these students, they are not penalized for participating with this accommodation. An Important Note: Because response time is a critical aspect of SPI, the assessment must be installed on machines with certain technical specifications. In SPI, when unexpected low results occur, they tend to occur because of underspecified machines. Please be sure to check the technical requirements of the workstation before you test students. Technical requirements are on page 15 of this guide. 1 Before Your Assessment What Skills Contribute to Reading Comprehension? The latest research defining what reading skills and strategies are needed to become successful, independent readers has identified the following skills as those necessary for reading comprehension: • Word Reading Accuracy & Fluency • Vocabulary • Language Structures • Verbal Reasoning • Background Knowledge • Literacy Concepts Which Skills Does SPI Identify? The Scholastic Phonics Inventory (SPI) was designed to measure accuracy and fluency for two word-level reading skills: phonological decoding and sight word reading. Other assessments, such as Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI), identify the level of overall reading comprehension. In addition to its universal screening capacity, the SRI may be used for general comprehension progress monitoring. How Do I Identify Students for SPI Testing? Research shows us that 50% of the time adolescent struggling readers lack foundational reading skills and the other 50% of the time they lack a context or background knowledge for effective reading comprehension. Source: Jenkins et al., 2003; Stanovich, 1991; Hock et al., 2009. With SPI, schools can establish if struggling readers lack skills at the decoding level or if their challenges with comprehension may be due to weaknesses in other areas. This knowledge is critical when deciding placements for struggling readers and for determining the intensity of services. To accomplish this, schools require data from a universal screener that reports on a developmental scale. While we recommend using SRI, any national normed, criterion-referenced reading test should be able to summarize reading performance expectations by grade level. Once a universal screener has been used to make this determination, students identified in the lowest quartile for his or her grade level are candidates for further assessment with the SPI. After SPI has identified whether foundational reading skills are at the heart of their specific reading challenges, these students can then be placed in the appropriate interventions targeted to the most fundamental reading skills. 2 FIGURE 1: How SRI and SPI work together in a Response to Intervention Framework TIER III FOUNDATIONAL SRI SCORE 25TH PERCENTILE READING INTERVENTION INVENTORY ® TIER II TH TH ® SRI SCORE IN THE 26 -49 PERCENTILE READING COMPREHENSION ® INTERVENTION SRI SCORE 50TH PERCENTILE TIER I CORE CURRICULUM INSTRUCTION SRI, Scholastic’s reading comprehension assessment, works with SPI for accurate placements. Other Indicators for Screening With SPI While we recommend universal screening prior to SPI testing, any of the following criteria could be an indicator that a student should be a candidate for screening directly with the SPI: • A score in the bottom quartile on a state or national criterion-referenced reading or ELA test • A prolonged (multi-year) period of being “stalled” at a constant Lexile level • A failure in the content areas, especially when independent reading is required • The recommendation from a teacher or a child-study team • A newcoming ELL student. 3 Data and Reports How Will SPI Report on Student Performances? After students are tested on SPI, their teachers have immediate access to their performance data. SPI will summarize the student performance and offer targeted placement recommendations. SPI makes four descriptive instructional recommendations that align to the RTI tiers with a narrative suggestion on content of that intervention. With the rapid rise of Response to Intervention frameworks to address learning gaps across intervention tiers, SPI provides valuable data for use in RTI tier placement, by delineating which students require a Tier II (typically a reading comprehension intervention) and Tier III (typically an intensive word-level intervention). For Tier III interventions, SPI further stratifies students into three levels. 1. Students identified asPre-Decoders are recommended for the most intensive, foundational level intervention, which would include instruction on the alphabetic principle. Their intervention would be associated with the beginning of the scope and sequence of an explicit phonics instruction. 2. Students identified asBeginning Decoders would receive explicit phonics instruction starting with simple consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) patterns. 3. Students identified asDeveloping Decoders demonstrate early phonological decoding skills and a basic facility with sight word recognition. These students would be best served with a Tier III reading intervention, starting with consonant blends. 4 Data and Reports As indicated on the chart below, the SPI decoding status is associated with actionable recommendations to more effectively place students within an intervention program. Once a candidate has been identified as needing word level intervention, SPI can be used through the course of the intervention to monitor growth and student response to treatment. Chart 1: Decoding Status and Placement Recommendations Placements Levels Results Should Include Student shows no mastery of the Tier III: Foundational reading alphabetic principle. intervention including alphabetic PRE-DECODER principle and phonemic awareness. Student shows mastery of Tier III: Explicit phonics instruction BEGINNING basic letter recognition, usually starting with simple consonant- DECODER consonants. vowel-consonant (CVC) patterns. Student shows emerging word- Tier III: Explicit phonics instruction DEVELOPING building skills with mastery of basic starting with consonant blends. DECODER word structures. Student shows adequate mastery Tier II: Text-based reading with ADVANCING of decoding skills. direct support in building vocabulary, reading comprehension, and fluency DECODER with connected texts. 5 Data and Reports How Do I Use The Screening and Placement Report? The first report most educators generate is theSPI Screening and Placement Report. This report is extensive and the most effective report, because the overall student performance includes data on the percentage of items answered accurately and fluently, or within the required response time. As we will present in this guide, there are times when further interpretation of this report may be required to confirm placement within a reading intervention. For a basic understanding, please review the elements of the SPI Screening and Placement Report. In This Report, Data Will Be Reported by: 1 Date of SPI Placement Test: The data from each student’s first SPI test. 2 Percentage Accurate and Fluent on SPI Subtests: The percentage of items in each subtest answered correctly (accuracy) and within the given time limits (fluency). — Letter Names Accuracy (assesses accuracy