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
Uses retellings of informational science texts to capture both reading comprehension and conceptual science understanding simultaneously, providing a more integrated and authentic measure of student learning.
Cautions
Relies heavily on students’ oral or written language production (retelling), which may confound results with language proficiency (especially for ELL students) rather than purely reflecting their science understanding.
This assessment uses student retellings of an informational science text to measure both reading comprehension and science conceptual understanding. Students are asked to read a selected passage and then orally retell what they remember, with minimal prompting, allowing researchers to capture how students interpret and communicate key ideas.
The instrument evaluates retellings in two distinct ways. First, reading comprehension is assessed by analyzing retold clauses using categories such as matches, substitutions, summaries, additions, and conflicts. These categories capture how accurately and completely students recall and represent information from the text.
Second, science understanding is assessed by coding retellings for evidence of key scientific concepts. Student responses are analyzed for inclusion of core ideas related to the topic, such as processes, contextual factors, and structural features, based on predefined concept categories.
Organization
Topic
Collection Category(ies)
Content
Grades
5th Grade
Languages
English
Respondent
Student
Access and Use
Price
No fee
Psychometrics (additional guidance)
Item Type
Open response
