Phonemic
Awareness Assessments Identify a Weak Cognitive Skill Necessary for Learning
Chou, L.,
McClintock. (2006) Phonemic Awareness Assessments Identify a Weak
Cognitive Skill Necessary for
Learning. Retrieved June 10, 2007, Website:http://www.articletrader.com/view/printview-31106.html
Introduction
Assessment is the systematic collection
of data, review of information and use of knowledge about programs and procedures for implicit purpose of improvement. It relies on a review of data, rubrics, performances outcomes and other evaluative
measures that are required to consider the current quality of what schools are doing.
Purpose
The purpose of assessment is to indicate
the extent to which a program achieves its objective and outcomes so the program can use the finding to inform program planning,
decision making, revision of program objective, and resources allocation and budget request.
Its primary purpose is for the student to receive multiple attempts to practice and to demonstrate understanding of
contents and to develop skills by receiving feedback by the teacher in order to improve achievement. When focusing on this article the assessment used was to help children identify weak cognitive skills that
are necessary for learning.
Population/Sample
Phonemic Awareness is established
in around 80% in children by the age of five. While other 20% show signs past
the age nine. During a ten year study, it was discovered that 88% of difficulties
were results of weak phonemic awareness.
Methods
For a teacher to find evidence of
a student achievement, the teacher must evaluate students. They must find out
which assessment suits the situation and that particular student. There are a
variety of assessment methods that can be used, these assessments are: Pencil and Paper Test, Performance Task, and Direct
Communication.
Pencil and Paper Test: It requires
the student to read and write independently or show understanding of concepts at a symbolic level.
Performance Tasks: It requires the students to show that they have acquired the skills taught through active means of production.
Direct Communication: When this is done with student, it provides a great advantage on their learning.
Findings
There are many warning signs for phonemic
awareness. Warning signs to watch for are
- Difficulty
recognizing rhymes
- Trouble
remembering names
- Difficultly
development of normal speech
- Difficulty
spelling, reading aloud, and using phonics
Implication
This is a great assessment that really identifies a minor learning disability which could lead to something
horrible. Getting children tested early really slows this process down; it may
even solve the problem. It was said in the article, that having a weak cognitive
skills can affect people from all the walks of life, if not detected early. This
test just may change that child’s life. I honestly feel that all parents
who think their child may have a problem should get them tested before it’s too late. This study showed that dual discrepancy
(DD) was most effective for the 25th and 33rd percentile rank groupings than for the 50th
percentile and one standard deviation criteria. According to the author, because there was consistency in the prevalence rates,
the DD method seemed to be reliable. The author states that this data should be compared to national prevalence data for learning
disabilities to thoroughly understand the utility of this model. He also states that further research needs to be done to
find best practices in the diagnosing of learning disabilities within a response to intervention model.
I think that perhaps the results may have had to do with
the fact that the Title I program allowed for group instruction, whereas the HOSTS program did not. Also, the results may
have not been as reliable based on the fact that in the HOSTS program, the students may have received a different tutor (with
a different teaching method) each time he or she went to tutoring. In addition, I would want to know the difference in the
results, for example, if an Informal Reading Inventory was administered as well.
Furthermore, I believe that no one or two tests can determine everything a student knows or does not
know. There are many factors that can play a role in the results of tests scores. For example, a child may be an intelligent
individual, but may be having a bad day or isn’t feeling well. That is a reason why teachers should administer ongoing
assessments. By doing this, they will have more reliable results.
Although the author stated that his study was reliable, I am not too sure that it was. In this study,
he stated that there may have been an error in the scores. In addition to this, he stated that further research needed to
be done to refine DD and that additional comparisons of definitions for non-responsiveness of growth data was needed. More
research should have been done in this study to truly make it reliable.
