Beyond Standardized Truth: Improving Teaching and Learning through Inquiry-Based Reading Assessment

By Scott Filkins

Beyond Standardized Truth, included in the Principles in Practice imprint, is the result of the author’s own efforts to bridge the gap between valuing reading and being able to respond with appropriate instruction or evaluate growth in reading. 

Scott Filkins brings us into his classroom and the classrooms of his colleagues to demonstrate how high school teachers across the disciplines can engage in inquiry-based reading assessment to support student learning. Based in the IRA–NCTE Standards for the Assessment of Reading and Writing, Revised Edition, the classroom portraits highlight the importance of incorporating genuinely formative assessment into our instruction. 

Filkins unpacks his own history with assessment through engaging “confessions” of his early practices and eventual growth toward a framework that situates reading assessment in an inquiry model. Throughout the book, he showcases his colleagues’ attempts to use an inquiry framework, including the various tools and documentation methods that help them inquire into their students’ habits and thoughts as readers, use formative assessment to fuel the gradual release of responsibility framework, and use reading assessment as a means of professional reflection. 

Finally, Filkins challenges us to broaden the conversation about assessment to a wider range of stakeholders and offers a vision of assessment as an expression of care for the students in our charge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9780814101438

Scott Filkins

Scott Filkins is an English and math teacher at Central High School in Champaign, Illinois. He co-directs the University of Illinois Writing Project and is currently engaged in a five-year study of eight students’ transition to college writing and their development as writers in college. Scott worked at the National Council of Teachers of English on the ReadWriteThink.org project. He is the author of Beyond Standardized Truth: Improving Teaching and Learning through Inquiry-Based Reading Assessment (NCTE, 2012). He lives in Urbana, Illinois, with his son Colin.

Book preview

Dear Reader,

As a former high school teacher, I remember the frustration I felt when the gap between Research (and that is, by the way, how I always thought of it: Research with a capital R) and my own practice seemed too wide to ever cross. Research studies—those sterile reports written by professional and university researchers— often seemed so out of touch with the issues that most concerned me when I walked into my classroom every day. These studies were easy to ignore, in part because they were so distant from my experiences and in part because I had no one to help me see how that research could impact my everyday practice.

Although research has come a long way since then, as more and more teachers take up classroom-based inquiry, this gap between research and practice unfortunately still exists. Quite frankly, it’s hard for even the most committed classroom teachers to pick up a research article or book, figure out how that research might apply to their classroom, convince their administrators that a new way of teaching is called for, and put it into practice. While most good teachers instinctively know that there is something to be gained from reading research, who realistically has the time or energy for it?

That gap informs the thinking behind this book imprint. Called Principles in Practice, the imprint publishes books that look carefully at the research-based principles and policies developed by NCTE and put those policies to the test in actual classrooms. The imprint naturally arises from one of the strong missions of NCTE: to develop policy for English language arts teachers. Over the years, many NCTE members have joined committees and commissions to study particular issues of concern to literacy educators. Their work has resulted in a variety of reports, research briefs, and policy statements designed both to inform teachers and to be used in lobbying efforts to create policy changes at the local, state, and national levels (reports that are available on NCTE’s website, www.ncte.org).

Through this imprint, we are creating collections of books specifically designed to translate those research briefs and policy statements into classroom-based practice. The goal behind these books is to familiarize teachers with the issues behind certain concerns, lay out NCTE’s policies on those issues, provide resources from research studies to support those policies, and—most of all—make those policies come alive for teacher-readers.

This book is part of the third series in the imprint, a series that focuses on literacy assessment. Each book in this series highlights a different aspect of this important topic and is organized in a similar way: immersing you first in the research principles surrounding the topic (as laid out in the IRA-NCTE Standards for the Assessment of Reading and Writing, Revised Edition) and then taking you into actual classrooms, teacher discussions, and student work to see how the principles play out. The authors of each book also offer some thoughts as to how we as teachers and teacher leaders might reach out to help others (administrators, colleagues, parents, community members, even legislators) understand why the ways of teaching demonstrated in this book are vital and viable. Finally, each book closes with a teacher-friendly annotated bibliography.

Good teaching is connected to strong research. We hope that these books help you continue the good teaching that you’re doing, think hard about ways to adapt and adjust your practice, and grow even stronger in the vital work you do with kids every day.

Best of luck,

Cathy Fleischer

Principles

in Practice

The Principles in Practice imprint offers teachers concrete illustrations of effective classroom practices based in NCTE research briefs and policy statements. Each book discusses the research on a specific topic, links the research to an NCTE brief or policy statement, and then demonstrates how those principles come alive in practice: by showcasing actual classroom practices that demonstrate the policies in action; by talking about research in practical, teacher-friendly language; and by offering teachers possibilities for rethinking their own practices in light of the ideas presented in the books. Books within the imprint are grouped in strands, each strand focused on a significant topic of interest.

Volumes in the Adolescent Literacy Strand

Adolescent Literacy at Risk? The Impact of Standards (2009) Rebecca Bowers Sipe

Adolescents and Digital Literacies: Learning Alongside Our Students (2010) Sara Kajder

Adolescent Literacy and the Teaching of Reading: Lessons for Teachers of Literature (2010) Deborah Appleman

Volumes in the Writing in Today’s Classrooms Strand

Writing in the Dialogical Classroom: Students and Teachers Responding to the Texts of Their Lives (2011) Bob Fecho

Becoming Writers in the Elementary Classroom: Visions and Decisions (2011) Katie Van Sluys

Writing Instruction in the Culturally Relevant Classroom (2011) Maisha T. Winn and Latrise P. Johnson

Volumes in the Literacy Assessment Strand

Our Better Judgment: Teacher Leadership for Writing Assessment (2012) Chris W. Gallagher and Eric D. Turley

Beyond Standardized Truth: Improving Teaching and Learning through Inquiry-Based Reading Assessment (2012) Scott Filkins

NCTE Editorial Board

Jonathan Bush

Mary Ellen Dakin

Claude Mark Hurlbert

Jann Pataray-Ching

John Pruitt

Mariana Souto-Manning

Melanie Sperling

Diane Waff

Shelbie Witte

Kurt Austin, Chair, ex officio

Kent Williamson, ex officio

All author proceeds for this book will be donated in honor of the memory of Clif Aldridge to the Clif Rocks! fund, supporting scholarships at Champaign Centennial High School, the Illinois State University chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity, and the needs of cancer patients between the ages of eighteen and twenty-three at Carle and Provena Covenant Hospitals.

Staff Editor: Bonny Graham

Imprint Editor: Cathy Fleischer

Interior Design: Victoria Pohlmann

Cover Design: Pat Mayer

Cover Photo: Thompson-McClellan

NCTE Stock Number: 02916; eStock Number: 02886

ISBN 978-0-8141-0291-6; eISBN 978-0-8141-0288-6

©2012 by the National Council of Teachers of English.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the copyright holder. Printed in the United States of America.

It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified.

Every effort has been made to provide current URLs and email addresses, but because of the rapidly changing nature of the Web, some sites and addresses may no longer be accessible.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Filkins, Scott R.

Beyond standardized truth : improving teaching and learning through inquiry-based reading assessment / Scott R. Filkins.

p. cm.

Includes biliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8141-0291-6 ((pbk))

1. Reading—Ability testing—United States. 2. Education—Standards—United States. I. Title.

LB1050.46.F48 2012

379.1’510973—dc23

2012021155

For Joan Wagner Filkins, who taught me to read,

and Colin James Filkins, who allowed me to pay the favor forward.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Excerpts from the IRA-NCTE Standards for the Assessment of Reading and Writing, Revised Edition

Chapter 1 Confessions of an Unprincipled Reading Assessor

Chapter 2 Seeking Truth, Considering Consequences: Getting into Students’ Heads through Inquiry-Based Assessment

Chapter 3 Formative Reading Assessment in Action

Chapter 4 Beyond Zenning It: Reflecting on Professional Practice through Reading Assessment

Chapter 5 Improving Assessment through Caring, Collaboration, and Collective Responsibility

Annotated Bibliography

Works Cited

Index

Author

Acknowledgments

As I finish this project, I’m reminded of Edith Wharton’s recollection of her attempt to write her first book, The House of Mirth. I don’t yet know how to write a novel, she recalled, but I know how to find out how to.

I’m indebted to the following people for the roles they played in the rewarding process of finding out how to write a book about secondary reading assessment:

• Will, Chris, Kathy, Liz, Nikki, Gary, Stephanie, and Faith—the eight Central High School teachers who let me into their classrooms for discovery and collaboration, plied only with pasta, wine, and a free clipboard;

• The students and their families who graciously allowed me to include their work in this volume;

• The teachers at Champaign’s two high schools, for their dedication to their craft and for their friendship across the years;

• Joe Williams and Judy Wiegand, for allowing formative reading assessment to be my professional focus for a semester of work at Central;

• Patrick Berry and Charlie Weinberg, for reading the first written artifact associated with this project, a nearly incomprehensible proposal they both responded to with much more respect than it deserved;

• Greg Johnson and Ryan Cowell, for reading early and later drafts with critical care, and for being part of the work and talk that undergirded this project;

• The many teachers affiliated with the University of Illinois Writing Project (especially our director, Libbie Morley), for their enthusiasm for writing, professional development, and excellent snacks;

• The University of Illinois faculty who have given me so many new ways to think about my students and my practice, particularly Catherine Prendergast, Paul Prior, Mark Dressman, Sarah McCarthey, Gail Hawisher, and Anne Haas Dyson;

• The educators who read an earlier draft of this book through the NCTE Books Program review process, for their combination of supportive enthusiasm and critical suggestions for improvement;

• Kurt Austin and Bonny Graham, for their extraordinary attention to detail and patience with my lack thereof; and

•Cathy Fleischer, a true mentor.

Standards for the Assessment of Reading and Writing, Revised Edition

A publication of the IRA-NCTE Joint Task Force on Assessment

Introduction

This document provides a set of standards to guide decisions about assessing the teaching and learning of literacy. In the past 30 years, research has produced revolutionary changes in our understanding of language, learning, and the complex literacy demands of our rapidly changing society. The standards proposed in this document are intended to reflect these advances in our understanding.

Readers of this document most likely share common experiences with respect to literacy and assessment. For example, in our own school days, we were directed to read to get the correct meaning of a text so that we could answer questions put to us by someone who already knew that correct meaning or by a test (often multiple choice) for which the correct answers were already determined. In order to develop assessment practices that serve students in an increasingly complex society, we must outgrow the limitations of our own schooling histories and understand language, literacy, and assessment in more complex ways. Literacy involves not just reading and writing, but a wide range of related language activities. It is both more social and more personal than a mere set of skills.

The need to understand language is particularly important. Language is not only the object of assessment but also part of the process of assessment. Consequently, any discussion of literacy assessment must include a discussion of language—what it is, how it is learned, and how it relates to assessment. Before we state our assessment standards, then, we will give an overview of what we mean by assessment and how we understand language and its relationship to assessment.

The Nature of Assessment

For many years, a transmission view of knowledge, curriculum, and assessment dominated and appeared to satisfy our social, political, and economic needs. Knowledge was regarded as a static entity that was out there somewhere, so the key educational question was, How do you get it from out there into students’ heads? The corollary assessment question was, What counts as evidence that the knowledge really is in their heads? In a transmission view, it made sense to develop educational standards that specified the content of instruction before developing assessment procedures and engagements.

In the 1920s, notions of the basic purposes of schooling began to shift from an emphasis on the transmission of knowledge to the more complex nurturing of independent and collaborative learning and of problem solving. This shift has gained increasing prominence in today’s postindustrial society, with its ever-expanding need for workers with strong communication skills and dispositions toward problem solving and collaborating. A curriculum committed to independent learning is built on the premise that inquiry, rather than mere transmission of knowledge, is the basis of teaching and learning.

This shift from knowledge transmission to inquiry as a primary goal of schools has important implications for assessment. In a knowledge-transmission framework, tests of static knowledge can suffice as assessment instruments. Students are the participants who are primarily accountable (either they have the knowledge or they don’t), with teachers held accountable next. Policymakers, including school board members, trustees, or regents, are the primary recipients of assessment data. An inquiry framework changes the role of assessment and the roles of the participants. Within this framework, assessment is the exploration of how the educational environment and the participants in the educational community support the process of students as they learn to become independent and collaborative thinkers and problem solvers. This exploration includes an examination of the environment for teaching and learning, the processes and products of learning, and the degree to which all participants—students, teachers, administrators, parents, and board members—meet their obligation to support inquiry. Such assessments examine not only learning over time but also the contexts of learning.

Inquiry emphasizes different processes and types of knowledge than does knowledge transmission. For example, it values the ability to recognize problems and to generate multiple and diverse perspectives in trying to solve them. An inquiry stance asserts that while knowledge and language are likely to change over time, the need for learners at all levels (students, teachers, parents, administrators, and policymakers) who can solve new problems, generate new knowledge, and invent new language practices will remain constant. An inquiry perspective promotes problem posing and problem solving as goals for all participants in the educational community. For example, inquiry values the question of how information from different sources can be used to solve a particular problem. It values explorations of how teachers can promote critical thinking for all students. And it raises the question of why our society privileges the knowledge and cultural heritage of some groups over others within current school settings.

Inquiry fits the needs of a multicultural society in which it is essential to value and find strength in cultural diversity. It also honors the commitment to raising questions and generating multiple solutions. Various stakeholders and cultural groups provide different answers and new perspectives on problems. Respecting difference among learners enriches the curriculum and reduces the likelihood of problematic curricular narrowing.

Just as the principle of inquiry values difference, so the principle of difference values conversation over recitation as the primary mode of discourse. In a recitation, it is assumed that one person, the teacher, possesses the answers and that the others, the students, interact with the teacher and one another in an attempt to uncover the teacher’s knowledge. In a conversation, all of the stakeholders in the educational environment (students, parents, teachers, specialists, administrators, and policymakers) have a voice at the table as curriculum, standards, and assessments are negotiated. Neither inquiry nor learning is viewed as the exclusive domain of students and teachers; both are primary concerns for all members of the school community. For example, administrators ask themselves hard questions about whether the structures they have established support staff development, teacher reflection, and