Part 2 of 4: The DOE Talks IREAD Editor’s Note: This is the second of a four-part series on the IREAD program and its effects on students.
Indiana’s Reading Excellence Action Demonstration test is a foundational reading assessment of skills students learned from kindergarten to third grade, according to Indiana Department of Education Director of Student Assessment Michele Walker.
The test, which schools will give March 19-21, includes students’ reading of the test instructions, too. It has three sections and is expected to take about 70 minutes, Walker said.
An item sampler of IREAD-3 is available on the IDOE’s website, Walker said, which is very representative of the assessment.
The item sampler can be found online at http://www.doe.in.gov/assessment/iread_resources.html
The assessment tests students over reading skills such as word analysis, synonyms, context clues, vocabulary, reading comprehension and more.
In March 2010, the Indiana General Assembly passed Public Law 109 requiring the evaluation of reading skills for all third-grade students. This legislation was developed to ensure students can read at grade level prior to fourth grade, according to Indiana Department of Education information.
Third-graders who fail the IREAD-3 test must be retained in third grade the next school year under Indiana law, unless a student qualifies for a waiver or they pass the test in the summer on the student’s second try.
The idea behind PL 109, Walker said, is that if a student can’t proficiently perform these skills on the test, they won’t be able to proficiently perform them in the fourth grade. Research shows that if a student doesn’t have these skills by third grade, they won’t be ready to move on.
The three waivers for the test, called Good Cause exemptions, include students who have previously been retained two times prior to promotion to fourth grade, students with disabilities whose case conference committee has determined that promotion is appropriate and English Learners whose Individual Learning Plan committee has determined that promotion is appropriate.
Walker said, in her opinion, the reason for the exemption for the student who already had been retained two times is because if a student has been retained twice already, they should move ahead and the school should try other strategies for that student.
Results of the IREAD-3 will be back the first week of April, Walker said. That will give schools time to review the results and further help students during the remainder of the school year. A student can then retest in the summer. If a student passes IREAD-3 during the summer, Walker said the student will then go on to the fourth grade.
“If a student is not successful, that tells us the student needs to receive additional instruction in grade three,” Walker said.
Previously, the DOE gave a pilot IREAD-3 test to one class of third-graders in each school corporation. Walker said pilot test results are never released for any assessment. The pilot test helps them create an operational test.
The pilot test also was not scored by student, but by item on the test. The pilot test had more items on it than the IDOE needed. Also, not every class was given the same form.
“It’s really a way of making sure items measured what they were meant to measure and what we really want it to measure,” Walker said.
The test forms for the March test are in production now, she said.
Along the way, Walker said, the IDOE has kept parents and schools informed. The department sent a letter to third-grade parents in the fall that let them know more about the IREAD-3. Every two months, Walker said, they will be sharing additional information with parents.
Walker said they want to be very transparent. The IDOE wants parents, teachers and schools to know what will be asked on the test. No secrets are being kept, and a lot of information is available on the IDOE’s website, include the item sampler, the blueprint and more.
“We’re blessed to live in a state that assesses the curriculum in the classroom,” Walker said.
The assessment doesn’t test anything that teachers wouldn’t be testing in the classroom under the state standards.
As for retention of students, Walker said, from her perspective, if a student does not demonstrate proficiency in the skills tested in IREAD-3, that tells her a student is not ready to take on the content in fourth grade.
However, if a student has not mastered third-grade reading skills, but can do grade four math, Walker said, that student should have access to fourth-grade math.
As the director of student assessment, Walker said she knows of no other assessment at this time being planned for other areas or grades. She said she is excited about the IREAD-3 and what it can mean.
