UNDERSTANDING WHAT WORKS IN ORAL READING ASSESSMENTS

phonological level. Many studies have supported its
role in predicting early word reading and spelling in
both shallow and opaque languages (Badian, 2001;
Denton et al., 2000; McBride-Chang and Kail, 2002;
Muter et al., 2004; Wang et al., 2006).
ii. Print knowledge
Print knowledge includes an understanding of the
orthographic system and the written language.
Through a learner’s investigations, print knowledge
advances in a hierarchical yet recursive way,
implying that one print knowledge component
is a prerequisite for another component but that
skills are not necessarily mastered before new
learning commences. Print concepts include book
orientation, directionality and a purpose for reading.
Understanding the distinctive symbols and names
of alphabet letters also falls under the domain of
print knowledge. Besides letter recognition, alphabet
knowledge also encompasses knowledge of letter
names and their corresponding sounds. Letter
knowledge has been consistently shown to be a
strong predictor of early word reading and spelling
(Adams, 1990; Ehri and Wilce, 1985; Piper and
Korda, 2010; RTI International, 2013; Wagner et al.,
1994).
iii. Orthographic knowledge
Orthographic knowledge is an understanding
of words in their written form. It includes the
knowledge that certain sequences of letters
compose words that represent spoken sounds.
Applying this knowledge helps learners identify
familiar words, decode unfamiliar words in isolation
and read connected texts, such as a sentence or a
story.
2.3 What does the EGRA assess in reading?
The EGRA is a collection of subtasks that measure
skills needed for the acquisition of reading. From
14 existing subtasks (outlined in Table 1), users
can select the ones that align with their research
question and the particular stage(s) of literacy
development of interest. Researchers interested in
capturing a range of abilities can select the subtasks
that are expected to reflect student performance
depending on the context of which phase of
development the assessment is administered.
The EGRA has been used mostly to understand
primary school children’s reading abilities. This
corresponds to the period where instruction
progresses from playing with language via songs
and rhymes to learning the alphabet to exploring
how to combine letters to read and spell individual
words, and ultimately, to using that knowledge
to read connected text. The EGRA would also be
appropriate for measuring the progress of older
children or young adults who are in the early stages
of learning to read.
3. HOW DOES THE ASSESSMENT
GENERATE RESULTS THAT ARE
RELIABLE AND VALID?
The process for designing and developing an early
reading assessment begins first and foremost with
an understanding of the purpose of the study or data
collection opportunity. As outlined in another article
in this volume (see Kochetkova and Dubeck), early
in the process, stakeholders should come together
to define how assessment results will be used and
whether the proposed assessment and associated
survey tools will contribute to the desired result.
The Early Grade Reading Assessment Toolkit—
first developed in 2009 (RTI International, 2009)
and updated in 2015 (RTI International, 2015)—
provides detailed guidance on how to develop and
adapt 2 an EGRA. As stated previously, the EGRA
has been found to be a valid and reliable tool
for understanding students’ early literacy skills.
Validity is the degree to which theory and evidence
2 When creating an EGRA, some adapters evaluate the
pilot data using item response methodology to determine
what modification might be needed prior to finalising the
instrument. For example, the RTI International regularly
uses Rasch measurement methodology to examine item
functioning for EGRA subtasks. This analysis evaluates
the effectiveness of each item such as an individual word
within a reading passage, and assesses if the item (word) is
producing expected responses. Rasch measurement is based
on a probabilistic model where the likelihood of a student
responding correctly to an item is a function of the student’s
skill (or ability) and the item’s difficulty.
43 ■ School-based Assessments: What and How to Assess Reading