Tier 1 Instructional Strategies To Improve K-4 Reading Comprehension
Category: Student Learning
Instrument Overview
Expert Notes AvailableView expert commentary on strengths and cautions for this instrument
Strengths
Explicitly grounded in learning trajectories, allowing items to target different levels of students’ computational thinking development and capture progression in their understanding rather than just isolated skills.
Cautions
Closely tied to specific learning trajectories and the associated instructional sequence, so its effectiveness may depend on students having had aligned learning experiences
The learning trajectory-based computational thinking (CT) assessments are a set of paper-and-pencil instruments designed to measure upper elementary students’ CT knowledge and skills within integrated instructional contexts. Developed by Gane and colleagues (2021), these assessments are aligned with learning trajectories that describe how students develop understanding across core CT concepts such as sequencing, repetition, conditionals, decomposition, variables, and debugging.
Assessment items are designed using an evidence-centered framework and are linked to specific learning goals within each trajectory. The tasks include both selected and constructed response formats, with some items incorporating representations of block-based programming environments such as Scratch, while others present problems in non-programming contexts. As shown in examples on pages 7–8, students may be asked to generate or interpret sequences of instructions or apply repetition in problem scenarios.
The assessments were administered following integrated mathematics and CT instruction in grades 3 and 4, and are organized into multiple instruments aligned with different stages of learning.
Organization
Topic
Collection Category(ies)
Content
Grades
3rd Grade,
4th Grade
Languages
English
Respondent
Student
Administration Information
Length
44 items
Administration
Paper
Access and Use
Price
No fee
Psychometrics (additional guidance)
Item Type
Open response
Task
