DEGREES OF READING POWER. A Powerful System for Measuring and Developing Reading Comprehension

(1)

DEGREES OF READING POWER

®

A Powerful System for Measuring and Developing Reading Comprehension

(2)

2 www.questarai.com/drp

INTRODUCING DEGREES

OF READING POWER

®

Every school faces the essential challenge of preparing students

for the literacy demands of the 21st century

Degrees of Reading Power®_{is a measurement} system that helps educators understand each student’s reading comprehension ability. Results from DRP help teachers scaffold their instruction with the right degree of intensity and challenge to ensure that students are on a path to college or career readiness. Data from DRP also help school leadership monitor reading growth and determine the efficacy of their curriculum so that timely interventions can be made.

Academic progress depends on literacy skills. A key factor in school improvement is an emphasis on developing the literacy skills needed for all students in all subject areas. A first step toward that improvement is access to meaningful information about students’ reading abilities and instructional needs, and a view of the trajectory of their progress. DRP provides precise and real-time data for

educators to monitor the progress of students as together they work to meet the literacy demands of the 21st_century.

FULLY AUTOMATED ASSESSMENT,

SCORING, AND REPORTING PROVIDE

YOU WITH IMMEDIATE RESULTS.

(3)

As a universal screener and growth monitor, DRP provides actionable data that drive instruction and higher levels of reading achievement. With the data from DRP, teachers can:

■

■ Set rigorous yet realistic goals to College and Career Readiness

■

■ Track progress on the Common Core State Standards for Reading

■

■ Make informed instructional decisions

■

■ Empower students to read independently and reach higher levels of achievement

A POWERFUL SYSTEM FOR

MEASURING READING

COMPREHENSION

Research-based components make the DRP a

program that drives instruction and learning

■

Assessments

Tools to measure reading

comprehension levels and monitor literacy growth for readers in Grades 2–12 and Adults ■

Reports

Details of reading ability are provided on student, class, teacher, school, and district level reports

■

DRP

g

BookLink

®

Online resource that contains titles to reading materials calibrated to the DRP scale

■

DRP Analyzer

Free online tool that evaluates instructional text using the DRP scale

■

Professional Learning

Workshops and webinars that provide guidance on using DRP results and effective instructional strategies for successful reading comprehension in the content areas

(4)

THE POWER OF THE DRP SCALE

A research-based initiative to bring reader and text together

Degrees of Reading Power reports on a scientifically developed scale, recognized as a valid measure of text complexity by independent researchers for the CCSS. It provides measures of student reading ability and text difficulty in a single metric. The DRP Scale of Text Complexity is an equal interval scale ranging from 0–100 units. Lower units are associated with primers for emerging readers; higher units with professional journals.

Why this information matters

in the classroom

■

■ Reading Support:When teachers know the difficulty of a text relative to the reading abilities of their students, they know the levels of support their students will need to access the text.

■

■ Reading Growth: When teachers have objective, quantitative goals, they can set clear and achievable growth expectations for students.

■

■ Reading Success: When teachers know their students’ independent reading levels, they can confidently assign challenging work that their

students can successfully handl

e.

Average Text Complexity of Real-World Texts

and Reading Benchmarks on the DRP Scale

75–78 Experimental Science Journals, _{Professional Journals}

70 First Year College Textbooks

68 Front Page of National Newspapers

64 State Drivers’ License Manuals

62 High School Textbooks

61 Teen Magazines

56 Middle School Textbooks

50 Elementary School Textbooks

40 Primary School Textbooks

33 Stories in Primers

RECOGNIZED AS A VALID MEASURE OF

TEXT COMPLEXITY BY INDEPENDENT

CCSS RESEARCHERS

(5)

HOW THE DRP MEASURES

READING COMPREHENSION

DRP tests provide a diagnostic, criterion-referenced measure of how closely and deeply students read and comprehend informational texts at different levels of text complexity.

Each DRP test consists of nonfiction passages with embedded probes to determine how well students understand the surrounding text. The students must choose the correct answers from a set of carefully

selected common vocabulary words. For each item, they choose the word that makes the best sense within the context of the passage.

The reading task of each DRP test item supports the development of close reading skills and requires thought and analysis. DRP results help educators understand how well students derive meaning from the texts they are reading.

The power of the DRP item format is that it generates strong and reliable measures of reading comprehension for all students at all ability levels. The DRP answers the educational challenge of how to accurately determine how well a student is able to engage in close, careful, and critical reading of increasingly complex text.

DRP test items are

carefully designed to:

■

■ Function as an integral

part of the text, not as discrete questions about the text

■

■ Assess the reader’s ability

to use the information within the text

■

■ Engage students’ active

metacognitive behaviors as they read the item

■

■ Reduce likelihood of

guessing strategies, associative processes, and other non-reading activities

Designed to measure levels of

reading comprehension for all readers

This sample is excerpted from a passage that measures 53 DRP units.

Page 5

PX-S3 (Go to the Next Page)

The year 1783 was an important one for fl ight. The fi rst recorded launching of a hot-air balloon occurred in France then. This balloon, built by Joseph and Etienne Montgolfi er, was a cloth bag 36 feet across. It was lined with paper and fastened with buttons. The bag wasn’t closed all the way around. Rather,

there was a 8 at the bottom. The balloon was positioned

above a fi re so hot air could rise into the opening. That is how

the balloon was 9 . Once infl ated, it was released into

the sky.

That same summer, a second kind of balloon made its fi rst fl ight. It was built by the scientist, Jacques Charles. Charles did not put hot air into this balloon. Instead, he used a different

10 . Charles used hydrogen, a newly discovered gas that was lighter than air. Charles believed hydrogen balloons would fl oat longer than hot-air balloons.

Charles launched his fi rst balloon from a Paris park jammed with spectators. So many people came to watch that the army

was called out. That is how large the 11 was. The

balloon rose into the clouds and disappeared. It came down miles away, where people knew nothing of fl ying balloons. Its descent so alarmed local residents that they attacked the balloon with pitchforks. Then they tied it to a horse, which dragged it over the countryside. Soon, the balloon was completely

12 . To keep other balloons from being ruined, the king sent out notices about them.

The fi rst balloons carried no one aboard, but this soon

changed. Before long, balloons had 13 . The fi rst people

to fl y rode in a basket suspended below a hot-air balloon. They tended a fi re located under the balloon’s opening. This kept the balloon infl ated with hot air. To descend, they let the fi re die. The air inside the balloon cooled, and it dropped gently to earth. That

was how the people 14 .

◆ ◆ ◆ HBL-203-2.3 8 a) rope b) sail c) wheel d) hole e) lamp 9 a) turned b) fi lled c) stored d) lowered e) painted 10 a) name b) fi eld c) color d) uniform e) substance 11 a) piece b) chamber c) crowd d) engine e) pattern 12 a) destroyed b) burned c) dried d) folded e) covered 13 a) motors b) strings c) fl ags d) frames e) passengers 14 a) paid b) pulled c) landed d) decided e) dressed 08 DRP Form-PX-S3_FINAL.indd 5 8/4/2008 11:53:30 AM

(6)

Online Experience

DRP Online provides immediate feedback on students’ reading comprehension levels so that the important work can begin.

Online Features

Students receive unique logins to access their test on a secure browser. The online format allows students to flag test items and go back to those items later. Before they log off, students will receive a list of flagged items as well as any items that they did not answer. These prompts help students demonstrate their reading skills to the fullest. The test interface also contains accommodation features including sizing tools, highlighters, and text underlining tools.

Page 4

PX-P (Go to the Next Page)

Remember: Choosetheword that makes the best sense in the blank. Fill in the circle in front of the word you have chosen.

ANF-50010-1.3; STS-50034-1.3; SHD-50227-1.3

Some animals feed only once a day. Others 1 more often. Some have many meals each day.

1 climb wash eat fi ght

The United States once had just 13 states. This 2 has changed. Today there are 50 states.

Storms can do great harm to beaches. A lot of 3 may be lost. It may take years for the shore to recover.

◆ ◆ ◆ 2 road store trade number 3 wheat sand oil paper \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 08 DRP Form-PX-P_FINAL.indd 4 8/4/2008 11:53:37 AM

HOW YOUR STUDENTS

EXPERIENCE DRP

THE WEB-BASED TEST ALLOWS

STUDENTS TO USE COMPUTERS

OR TABLETS IN YOUR DISTRICT.

SCORING IS AUTOMATIC, WITH

DATA AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY

FOLLOWING TESTING.

Untimed Test

Because DRP measures deep reading and not speed of reading, it has been designed as an untimed test. Most students complete the assessment in 45 minutes. As an untimed test, scores are comparable regardless of the amount of time students are engaged in the test.

(7)

To meet the reading demands our students will face after high school, the Common Core State Standards specify that students should be exposed to texts of increasing complexity during their elementary and secondary school years.

DRP helps educators meet this

challenge by reporting student results on a research-validated and nationally recognized scale, and links those results to textbooks, works of literature, and popular fi ction and nonfi ction. DRP research shows the median text complexity levels of post-secondary texts far exceed the median levels of text complexity of high school texts.

To help students prepare for the level of reading they will need to succeed in college and career, teachers need to provide them with more complex text and develop instructional strategies to help students access the text.

With DRP, teachers have tools to drive higher achievement for all students. Teachers can reliably identify student reading ability through the DRP Core Comprehension Tests and can locate appropriate independent reading

through the DRPBookLink database.

Educators can close the gap with a scientifi cally designed program and data that track progress toward new standards and new expected outcomes.

HELP STUDENTS MEET THE

DEMANDS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

AND THE WORKPLACE

school years.

DRP helps educators meet this

challenge by reporting student results on a research-validated and nationally recognized scale, and links those results to textbooks, works of literature, and popular fi ction and nonfi ction. DRP research shows the median text complexity levels of post-secondary texts far exceed the median levels of text complexity of high school texts.

DRP Supports Critical Demands Of

The Common Core Reading Standards:

■

■ Evaluating text complexity levels needed to reach college

and career readiness

■

■ Placing emphasis on reading of nonfi ction and

informational texts

■

■ Expecting accountability for independent reading of

textbooks and content area texts

■

(8)

HOW DRP ALIGNS TO THE

COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

DRP Core Comprehension Tests provide diagnostic information about students’ literacy strengths and weaknesses, and report that information in the context of the College and Career Anchor Standards.

Key Ideas and Details

These items require readers to:

■

■ Read closely to determine explicit meaning

of the text

■

■ Make logical conclusions based on evidence

in the text

■

■ Make generalizations from supporting details

in the text

Craft and Structure

■

■ Determine technical, figurative, or connotative

meaning of words and phrases

■

■ Understand and apply language rules and

patterns that impact text structure

■

■ Recognize semantic relationships

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

■

■ Infer connections among ideas in the text such as

cause and effect, comparison and contrast, and fact and opinion in order to construct meaning

■

■ Interpret significant points in text based on the

author’s presentation of reasons and evidence

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

The DRP provides a direct measure of CCSS Reading Standard 10, with all assessment items emphasizing the close, careful, and critical

thinking/reading actions that lead to comprehension of complex texts.

Sar ah, Plain and

Tall Bats, Cr eatur es of the Night Little Bear My Fiv e Senses Ar_{e Y} ou My Mother? Gr_{een E} ggs and Ham GRADES K–1 GRADES 2–3 GRADES 4–5 GRADES 6–8 GRADES 9–10 GRADES 11–12 30 40 50 60 70 80 America ’s Constitution: A Biogr aphy Declar ation of Independence Black, Blue and Gr

ay: African Americans in the Civil W

ar The Longitude Priz

e Vincent V an Gogh: P ortr_ait of an Ar tist A Night t o Remember Alice ’s Adv entur es in W onderland Bud, Not Buddy

COLLEGE & CAREER

Exemplary titles from CCSS Appendix B

DRP Scale of Text Complexity

and CCSS Grade Bands

(9)

DATA REPORTS FOR EDUCATORS

DRP Individual Performance Chart

This report provides data on the reading power of an individual student. The key data in this report are the measures of a student’s independent reading level (90% comprehension of text) and instructional reading level (70% to 80% comprehension of text). To help teachers understand a student’s reading skills according to the Common Core Anchor Standards for Reading, this report provides interpretive suggestions for further instruction.

District: Questar School District School: Questar Elementary School Examiner: Jones

Class: 6-A

Kenneth Cora

75

1

Instructional DRP

scores refl ect the most diffi cult text students can read and comprehend with instructional support; Independent DRP scores refl ect the most diffi cult text they can read independently.

2

Students’ reading

skills in three CCSS areas are shown along with suggestions for needed level of instruction.

3

Students’ scores are

plotted on the DRP scale with connections made to CCSS exemplar texts and benchmarks. 05/08/13 May 2013

3

1

2

(10)

District: Questar School District

School: Questar Elementary School

75

DRP School or District Proﬁ le

This report, available at the district, school, teacher, or classroom level, summarizes the data points of the Individual Performance Charts and provides a frequency distribution of the group’s DRP scores. Like the Individual Performance Chart, these scores are linked to the exemplar texts in Appendix B of the Common Core State Standards, and to standard textbooks and external benchmarks.

1

The distribution of

the group’s DRP scores is shown graphically to assist educators in planning for differentiated instruction.

2

Summary information

of the group’s

performance, measures of central tendency, and CCSS Text Complexity Expectations are also displayed.

TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS HAVE IMMEDIATE

ACCESS TO POWERFUL PERFORMANCE REPORTS

05/08/13 52

2013

1

(11)

DATA REPORTS FOR EDUCATORS

DRP Alphabetic Roster

This report provides summary information on test performance organized at the district, school, or classroom level.

1

Comprehensive data are provided for each

student in the group, including Independent and Instructional Level DRP Scores, national percentile rank, number of items correct on each passage of the DRP test administered, and CCSS diagnostic scores.

2

Performance in relation to the CCSS Reading

Standard 10 shows student performance in relation to CCSS grade level text complexity expectations for the end of the school year (Below Grade Level, On Grade Level, or Above Grade Level).

05/08/13

2013

1

(12)

DRP CCSS Diagnostic Summary

This report, available at the district, school, and classroom level, helps educators set priorities for reading instruction as they relate to the Common Core State Standards.

1

Students in the APPLY

range have demonstrated an understanding and effective use of the skills and are prepared to interact with more complex text.

2

Students in the PRACTICE

area showed some understanding of comprehension skills and strategies in the cluster of items and need to continue to improve reading skills.

3

TEACH means that students

scored very low on this cluster of items and need to be introduced or reintroduced to the skills and strategies in these standards.

DATA REPORTS SHOW STUDENTS’ ABILITIES RELATIVE TO COMMON

CORE COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS ANCHOR STANDARDS

05/08/13

2013

1

2

(13)

UNTANGLING TEXT COMPLEXITY ACROSS

THE CURRICULUM WITH STRATEGIES

TO IMPROVE COMPREHENSION

Measure what matters with

Degrees of Reading Power

.

When used to its fullest potential, Degrees of Reading Power

provides an accurate and reliable assessment of your students’ reading comprehension.

Become a

Degrees of Reading Power

super user.

To help you and your staff get proficient, we offer two professional learning options: an onsite workshop or virtual training through a live webinar. Choose the option that best suits your needs. Both target these key learning outcomes:

■

■ Ensure that you have instructional strategies to help students

become better readers

Dr. Ken Eastwood, superintendent of the Enlarged City School District of Middletown, New York, said it well: “Most schools do an excellent job of teaching students how to read but fall short in the next phase — reading to learn.” We help you effectively use the major item types found in Degrees of

Reading Power to help students develop the close, careful and critical thinking

and reading that leads to comprehension of complex texts.

■

■ Address a wide range of reading abilities within one classroom

With Degrees of Reading Power, you’ll identify each student’s independent and instructional scores and use them to directly inform individual instruction that will increase every students’ reading comprehension and its practical application.

■

■ Offer strategies to enable students’ success in learning content

You’ll learn how to interpret the Degrees of Reading Power Scale of Text Complexity and how to foster thinking while reading, as well as explore disciplinary literacy and instructional strategies, including how to help students get meaning from context and integrate knowledge and ideas.

ONSITE PROFESSIONAL

LEARNING AGENDA

8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., including lunch and breaks

■ Getting Started

• Warm-up activity (Questar Vision Rebus)

• Introductions

• Learning objectives for the workshop ■ Text Complexity and Comprehension

• Linking students and texts, then and now

• CCSS Reading Standards in DRP results

• Comprehension is thinking while reading ■ Okay, I’ve got my DRP results, now what?

• Disciplinary literacy requirements and implications

• Comprehension strategies

• Sample instructional activities ■ Wrap Up and Evaluations

PRICING

■ Live Webinar/Interactive Virtual Training (approximately 1.5 to 2 hours)

• $500

• A deeper dive into report interpretation and incorporation of DRP scores

■ Onsite Professional Learning (6 hours/1 day)

• $2,500

• Interpreting report

• Incorporating DRP scores

• Using effective teaching strategies to enhance reading comprehension

(14)

Degrees of Reading Power, DRP, and DRPBookLink are registered trademarks of Questar Assessment, Inc.

MKT-61001

“The Degrees of Reading Power is the only test that challenges students to demonstrate their understanding of what they read, as they read. Such ‘thinking while reading’ is what the new Common Core State Standards demand for students to reach the reading proficiency levels required in the competitive workplaces and schools of today—and tomorrow.”

Dr. Roger Farr

Professor Emeritus, Indiana University | Member of the Reading Hall of Fame Past President of the International Reading Association

Interested in learning more? Visit us at

www.questarai.com/drp

or contact us at

800-800-2598

5550 Upper 147th Street West | Minneapolis, MN 55124 800-800-2598 | [email protected] | www.questarai.com/drp