Course Listing

2 Day Seminars

A Diagnostic Approach to Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension Lessons: Using Assessments to Drive Instructional Choices – Summer Institute 2024

Basic reading skills (phonological awareness, decoding) tend to have consistent assessments and instructional practices. Reading skills, such as fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, tend to have a broader range of tools for testing and instruction. This 2-day seminar will look at fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension through the lens of assessment to help determine appropriate interventions. For each area of reading, there will be review of formal assessments (e.g., KTEA-3, GORT-5, WIAT-III, PPVT) and informal assessment tools (e.g., DIBELS, teacher-generated assessments). After reviewing testing, case studies will be used to guide a discussion around developing long-term and daily lesson plans to address student needs.

Upon completion, participants will be able to:

• Explain the differences between the three components of reading addressed in the course (oral reading fluency, vocabulary, comprehension)
• Distinguish which standardized tests assess each component
• Differentiate between tests to determine how the mode of assessment may impact the results of various tests
• Deepen their understanding of types of test scores (raw, percentile, standard score) to gain more meaningful information when analyzing formal assessments
• Analyze results of various assessments to determine areas of strength and development for students with reading difficulties
• Identify instructional goals for students based on areas of need
• Create need-based plans to outline an approach for instructional goals
• Supplement formal, standardized assessments with informal assessments, progress monitoring tools, and daily data collection depending on a student’s individual needs
• Compose daily lesson plans including target words and activities that will address specific needs for an individual student based on formal and informal testing

LEVEL

This course is appropriate for educators at the elementary and middle school levels.

MATERIALS

Materials will be provided on-site.

GRADUATE CREDIT

There is an option to add one (1) graduate credit to this 2-day course from Fitchburg State University. Graduate credit is optional; the cost is $210 and the non-refundable payment is made directly to Fitchburg. The timeline to opt into graduate credit is firm and details will be available once the course begins so you can make your final decision at that time.

ADDITIONAL COURSE LOGISTICS

• Delivery mode: In-person.
• Attendance: Live, on the date and time listed in the course information section.