Does anyone use the Diagnostic Assessment of Reading (DAR)?

Hi all, 

I am investigating the DAR (Diagnostic Assessment of Reading).  Is anyone using it?  Has anyone heard of it? If you are not using it, what are you using for comprehensive diagnostic information on readers when they enter your program and to show progress?

Thank you for your input!

Comments

Ann, thanks for bringing this Assessment to front stage here.   For those who are unfamiliar with the tool...
"The Diagnostic Assessment of Reading is used by classroom teachers and reading specialists to assess student reading ability in five areas: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency and reading comprehension. The DAR is most often used to test elementary-aged children; however, some teachers use it to test older students who struggle with reading. Teachers need no special training to administer the test, which is un-timed and administered verbally on a one-to-one basis. (https://education.seattlepi.com/dar-diagnostic-assessment-reading-2496.html)
I appreciate that this tool assesses all five essential factors in reading development! I hope that those who have used or want to use the assessment in their practice will "chime in" to pose questions or add resources. In the meantime, I'll be consulting different sources to engage an "expert" to join us here. More later! Leecy

Thanks, Leecy

Engaging an expert for the topic is exciting. 

I first read about the DAR here, https://lincs.ed.gov/readingprofiles/MC_Test_Bank.htm and learned that it stands out among assessments because it assesses all reading components. 

In fact, I would like to propose a Community of Practice around the work of systematic and individualized assessment and instruction of struggling  middle - level readers (GE 4'ish to 8.5). Or maybe just begin with discussions here.

Standing by,

Ann

Good Afternoon,

My name is Jeri Gue and I am the Curriculum Coordinator for Adult and Prison Education in Delaware.  I have been following this group for quite a while but have not been an "official" member.  So, today I am happy to join and take part in this discussion.

I have not used the DAR, but I intent to investigate it further.  I like the concept of having all four reading component assessments in one "package."  I am also a STAR trainer and in Delaware we currently use the Bader Reading Inventory along with the Word Meaning Test of the QARI and Silvia Green's Informal Word Analysis Inventory.  In previous years I have also used the Adult Diagnostic Reading Inventory, which is similar to the Bader.

I am also interested to hear from anyone who has used the DAR and how it may compare to other reading component assessments (user friendliness, time, student engagement, etc.).

Thank you,

Jeri

People who are interested in learning more about DAR, may be interested in reading an "old" article written by John Strucker for Focus on Basics: http://www.ncsall.net/index.html@id=456.html. Although it is not a recent article, the information is still very pertinent, and friendly to digest. As John writes in this article: "Given that ABE readers are so diverse and their profiles are so uneven, shouldn't sensitive, multi-component diagnostic testing be done with all learners? This testing does not need to be time-consuming, expensive, or burdensome for the learners. The DAR, for example, takes about 40 minutes to administer, and most teachers can learn to use it with just a few hours of training. Most students enjoy the one-on-one attention and instant feedback which tests like the DAR provide."

If a teacher has the time (and I know this is a BIG if) getting diagnostic information about students' relative strengths and weaknesses is critical. As I often explain, you can have two students obtaining a 4th grade level on a reading comprehension test and have two very different reasons why. One student may be able to decode at a relatively high level, but does not have the vocabulary to understand what s/he is reading. Another student may have excellent vocabulary, but extreme difficulty decoding unfamiliar words. A general comprehension test will not differentiate between these two students, while providing the students with testing on different underlying components of reading comprehension will. And of course, once the teacher is armed with this information, individualized instruction can be created.

If you are interested in discovering all the different types of components that can contribute to comprehension abilities, you may want to check out: http://csal.gsu.edu/content/phase-1-assessment. At this URL, you will find examples of different types of tests and what they measure. I am not suggesting that these tests should be bought or used by adult literacy programs, but the different types of tests do show the complexities of trying to figure out the different relative reading related strengths and weaknesses that a student may have.

Daphne Greenberg

Center for the Study of Adult Literacy

Georgia State University

Daphne and Jeri, thanks for your thoughtful responses to Ann's inquiry. I'm glad that we are not only discussing the DAR itself but addressing other concerns around diagnosing student reading strengths and challenges.

You said, Daphne, "you can have two students obtaining a 4th grade level on a reading comprehension test and have two very different reasons why." "Know thyself" is sound advice on the journey to independent and lifelong learning; "know thy student" adds a critical instructional element to Socrates' admonishment, don't you think?

I would assume that those who use the DAR and similar assessments would want to add other ways in which to support results to tailor instruction to learners. Would screening for learning or physical disabilities, for example, add to assessment results? Does the time required to adequately assess learners in different ways reward the effort? 

Let's keep taking! Leecy

 

I pulled from (I believe) the reading research on this site a more detailed and time consuming initial student questionnaire.  This questionnaire, I tell sts, is "about me getting to know (them) better as readers so as to best individualize their instruction."  I also tell them " you don't have to complete any question you don't want to.  We will talk about your answers, if you are comfortable, when you are done."  Mind you, all sts. can complete this questionnaire together, but I need time to clarify and talk about it with each individual.  This takes a lot of time but, as I have become much more savvy with assessments and interventions for the individual reading components, I am more and more able "see" life experiences that will likely have an effect on the st's reading skills.

For example, I met a st. with a GE 6.8 on the TABE, but then I learned from the questionnaire the student had attended 8 different schools before leaving school after 8th grade.  Without this information, I would previously have only known the st. completed 8th grade, but stability vs instability in those years can make a vast difference in the foundational reading skills that were achieved and mastered. In another instance, I understood a st. had a US HS diploma as a Non native speaker of English, but through this questionnaire learned that this st. had only attended about 3 years of formal schooling prior to entering 9th grade in the US, and with little to no English at that time. So not only did this information reveal more about why had is plateaued, even after much instruction, at an 8GLE on TABE, but the conversation brought up residual trauma from this st's HS experience.

(Well, it does not look like I can attach a document in this forum, so I am going to paste the questionnaire in this text box. I would love to hear if others talk to students at this level of detail, or if there are questions anyone thinks are missing from a comprehensive questionnaire.)

Initial Assessment Step 1

Interview

 

LEARNER QUESTIONNAIRE

Questions in bold face throughout the questionnaire are for Non-native Speakers of English only.

1. Where were you born? __________________________________________________________

2. (If not born in U.S.) How old were you when you came to the USA? ____________________

3. What was the first language you spoke as a child? __________________________________

3a. (If other than English) Do you still speak this language?    yes / no

4. What is the highest school grade you completed not including adult education? __________

4a. Why did you leave school?______________________________________________________

5. In what town or city, state (country) was that school?_______________________________

6. (If not born in the U.S.) Did you attend school in (native country)?    yes / no

7. (If yes to #6) How many years? __________________________________________________

8. (If yes to #6) In what language were you taught? ___________________________________

9. Can you read (native language)?   yes / no

10. Can you write (native language)?   yes / no

11. Can you read and write English?   yes / no / a little

11a. How old were you when you learned to read and write English? ________________

12. Where did you learn to read and write English? (home, school)?________________

13. How many schools did you attend as a child? ______________________________________

14. Did you ever repeat a grade? yes / no. (If yes) Which grade(s)? ______________________

15. Do you remember ever having trouble with reading as a child     yes / no

16. (If yes) In which grade did you first have trouble? ____first grade; ____ second or third grades; ____ fourth or fifth grades; ____ sixth, seventh or eighth grades; ____high school

17. When you were a child did you ever participate in any of the following programs; if you did, please describe when and where.

___Individual Tutoring____________________________________at home______in school______

___Chapter I or Title I ____________________________________________________________

___Resource Room_______________________________________________________________

___Special Classes___________________________________________________________

___Core Evaluation_______________________________________________________________

___Special education_____________________________________________________________

18. What made you decide to take adult education classes?_____________________________

________________________________________________________________________

 

19. What do you plan to do after you complete your adult education classes?_______________

 

________________________________________________________________________

20. About how many hours a week do you read for pleasure (in English)?
___less than 1;___1-3; ___4-6; ___more than 6

21. About how many hours a week do you read for pleasure in (native language)?

___less than 1; ___1-3; ___4-6; ___more than 6

22. What do you find hard about reading? Which of the following problems seem to apply to you when you read?

English

 

Native Language

___

I can't read or pronounce the long, hard words.

___

___

I can't understand most of the hard words.

___

___

Sometimes I don't understand what I read.

___

___

I forget a lot of what I read right afterwards.

___

___

I forget a lot of what I read a few days later.

___

___

I read very slowly.

___

___

Other problems?________________________

___

___

Spelling problems?

___

 

Hi Daphne,

Thanks for weighing in. I have read Strucker and that is what instigated my deeper study of more effective "systematic and individual" reading intervention for those readers who plateau on the standardized tests of silent reading comprehension.

I have found the DAR and have been in touch with the testing specialist at ProEd, Inc in Austin, who own it now.  Seems it's not used much. 

Best, Ann Leonard

Hi Jeri, 

Thanks for checking in. Thank you - you are the 2nd to speak of the Bader-I have searched it and found a listing of it here on LINCS (Bader Reading Inventory)

Thanks for speaking of the Adult Diagnostic Reading Inventory- it is owned by Grass Roots Press. I am going to look further in to that tool. If you have a moment to review your use of it it would be helpful to hear any thoughts.

I also currently use the Informal Word Analysis and it helps me see at a discreet level that really helps me develop a profile of the whole reader and plan better interventions.

T hanks again, Jeri. If you are actively looking at reading assessments and interventions I am happy to share notes.

Best,Ann Leonard

Hi, all – I learned about this discussion from a colleague and was eager to join! My team at ETS is engaged in research in exactly this area – assessing component reading skills in adult learners to diagnose and focus instruction. This research builds on earlier research with adolescents where we developed a web-based assessment (SARA) that was shown to be an effective tool for teachers. SARA assesses reading skills along five areas: word recognition, vocabulary, morphology, sentence processing and fluency of basic comprehension, (which align very well with STAR skills). It requires minimal preparation and takes about 30 minutes to administer to the whole class at once.

Several of us were in adult education for many years and saw how SARA could benefit adult learners and educators. Thus, with IES support, we are currently validating SARA with adults and inviting AE programs to try it out with their students. Anyone interested in the joining the study or just learning more about it, should get in touch! I’d be happy to discuss it!

All the best,

Kietha