Lack of Education Contributes to Crime

As more and more low-income families move into neighborhoods that once catered to the middle or upper class, one must be on the lookout for his own personal safety and report any criminal activity going on in their surroundings. Crime is everywhere in these neighborhoods where kids find too much time on their hands after school hours or after the school year lets out.

What also contributes to the crime rate in such places? Is it just the lack of money for low income families? Sometimes, crime can be attributed to the lack of education on the part of the perpetrator or their families.

It is a statistical fact that the crime rate is inversely proportional to the education level of the culprit. Kids who grow up in families that do not stress the importance of getting an education are more likely to be living out on the streets, doing drugs, joining gangs, or ending up in prison.

Sometimes parents who raise such kids were raised in similar conditions when they were youngsters. Nothing has changed. An education should be foremost on parents' minds when rearing their kids. In fact, an education is the key out of poverty. As the old saying goes, "The way out of the gutter is with a book and not a basketball."

Kids who do not have a good education in school are more likely to have difficulty with finding jobs, getting into college, or staying out of trouble with the law. Many times they have family issues that are attributed to the loss of a parent at a young age due to a death or an incarceration.

Kids from single-parent homes run that risk of growing up as an "at-risk" child. This is due to the fact that the parent must work to provide food and shelter for the child, and the absence of the other parent fails to provide leadership and guidance for a growing mind. A parent who is incarcerated will definitely not be around to guide the child to getting good grades in school.

What kind of message does an incarcerated parent send to a child? Is it okay to be dumb and stupid and end up in prison like their daddy? Like father, like son. Right? Is it okay to skip school and join a gang like their daddy once did?

The truth of the matter is that kids who drop out of school will face hardship in their lives as they grow older. Lack of education on their part means lack of money to support a family. Lack of money translates into robbing a bank or convenience store.

We hear in the news every day a robbery that occurs in our city or elsewhere. Or perhaps a shooting on the part of the perpetrator that caused an innocent life come to an abrupt halt.

What are kids doing nowadays? How can we prevent our own kids from becoming troubled kids? For one, a parent must be a good role model and stress the importance of a good education. That means the parents must take an active role in their child's education by monitoring how much television the child is allowed to watch and taking charge of knowing the kinds of friends that his child associates with. Furthermore, this means maintaining communication with his teachers at school and looking over his report card regularly.

A child with poor academic performance may indicate something wrong at school. Perhaps he does not like school due to external influences; i.e. bullying, difficult teachers, taunting by other students, or peer pressure.

It is better to catch the child's problem as early as possible before it comes to the point that the child is truant from school, or worse, acts out his frustration that is reflected in another Virginia Tech-like massacre.

A child should like his studies and should show interest in his schoolwork. He should be taught that good grades will help him get a good education so that he can get a good paying job and be a productive member of society after he graduates.

Teach your child that involvement in gangs, violence, drugs, and/or extortion will not get him anywhere but prison. Once a person ends up doing life in prison, there IS no second chance. There is no freedom for him. There is no TV, no video games, no music, nothing! Not even a chance to get an education behind bars. If there is school in prison, the education is very limited.

If you are raising a child, question your child as to what is going on in school if he/she displays academic difficulty. Spend some quality time with him/her. Help them with their homework if possible. Remember, you are not just his/her friend, you are their parents. You are the first role model that a child looks toward from infancy. So be a good one and teach him/her what is right by staying in school.

There is a story in Austin, Texas a few years ago. It involved a troubled 17-year-old kid, Manuel Cortez, a high school dropout, who went out with his friends in a stolen car one sunny afternoon, and shot another student, Christopher Briseno, whom he did not even know because Briseno allegedly was teasing the sister of Manuel's friend. Manuel Cortez is now serving life in prison because he made a stupid decision. Now families of the victim and the perpetrator are suffering two losses from society. All for what? Because Mr. Cortez chose to drop out of school and associate with gangs and/or violence? He chose to give up the possibility of an education so that he can run around gang banging? Or did he not have the proper support and guidance from his parents?

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How to Teach Special Education Students

Today there are many children who are living their life with developmental or learning disabilities, which in turn has deeply affected following day-to-day activities. In fact, many of them are either suffering from high functioning Autism or Autistic tendencies. These problems have restricted them in learning the skills primarily required to survive in everyday life. Teaching everyday life skills to these students are not an easy job or everybody's cup of tea. It actually requires a lot of patience and determination. It can be very challenging, but at the same time it can be fun and rewarding experience, if you as a special education tutor follow some of useful tips given below. These are few important guidelines that can help you to teach or educate a child that requires special education in a better way:

1) Selection of instructional style can help you a lot in a special education process. You can choose to educate in a very ordered way by prefabricated materials and using textbooks. However, you may even take the way of hands-on activity in a student-centered classroom.

2) Students with reading disabilities can be given oral instructions. You can present tests and reading materials in an oral format that you may access easily.

3) Regularly check the progress rate of learning disabled students and tell them about their frequency of progress. This will help them to know that how far they are from their individual or class goal.

4) Give response to the learning disabled students immediately. This may help you in understanding the relationship between what was taught and what was learned.

5) Try to shorten the class activities set for learning disabled children because lengthy activity projects are seriously annoying for such children.

6) Special children feel difficulty in learning abstract concepts and terms. So, provide them concrete or practical objects and events, for an example items they can touch, hear, smell, etc.

7) Disabled students require constant admiration. So, be sure, you constantly appraise them for their activities that directly help in boosting the confidence level.

8) Always encourage cooperative learning activities. Tell students of different abilities to work together on a single project. This will create environment where true learners can get the most or learn more out of the activity.

9) Try to engage youngsters more into problem-solving activities that may help them in solving their own conclusions.

10) Give these students opportunities to take initiative for any of the activity in the classroom. Other than that, also provide subjects that interest them for extensive reading activity.

Learning life skills and basic are significant lessons for a special education student. While teaching life skills and literacy, it is also important to remember that such students learn best by practical experience. With lots of practical learning and motivation, these children can learn a lot and faster than an average special child. So, follow these simple yet effective tips and watch them grow and doing well inn their daily work efficiently.

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How to Create Good User Documentation

Step 1 - Assess the purpose of the documentation

Begin the documentation process by assessing the purpose of the document. Different documents serve different purposes. For example user guides inform a products users how to best use a product and get the most from it, while a sales presentation's purpose is to get the reader to buy a product. It is important to establish what you want the document to achieve, as this will influence the rest of the documentation process.

Step 2 - Assess what tasks the users will perform

This step involves assessing the tasks users will perform, this is known as a task oriented approach. The task oriented approach begins by focusing on how the users would use the software or product to solve their problems or complete real world tasks.

The task-oriented approach creates more useful documentation than the functional approach to document development, which involves describing each button and function. The problem, with the functional approach is that it only gives the user half the story and does not help to integrate the software or product with real world tasks that the user will need to perform. This can often leave users with a low opinion of the software or product, when it was really the documentation that let them down.

At the end of this stage you will have a list of tasks and sub-tasks that will provide a skeleton for the documentation.

Step 3 - Analyse the audience

The audience analysis is where you create a profile that provides generic information and any assumptions you are making about the different audiences groups the document will have. Working from the audience analysis helps you to tailor the documentation as closely as possible to the needs of the reader. The audience analysis is where you try to understand who will be using the product you are documenting and what assumptions you can make about the knowledge and skills they possess. This allows you to include the appropriate level of detail and write using language that each audience group will understand.

Step 4 - Develop an audience task matrix

The audience task matrix links the tasks to the different audiences that a document is likely to have. The audience task matrix provides a useful tool for structuring the documentation, grouping information by likely audience and if required, helping us split a document that was too large. It also provides an additional check that all users and tasks have been considered.

Step 5 - Create the document plans

The next step is to create the document plans based of the information from the previous steps. This is a top down process, which you start by creating a high-level table of contents. Then you loop between the document plan and information gathering until you feel you have all the required content for each section.

Step 6 - Gather information

The information gathering process involves a combination of interviewing Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and working from existing documentation. For example, when documenting software there is often valuable information in requirement specifications, functional specifications and use case documentation. This provides a basic level of information that you can build on through interviewing the SMEs.

Step 7 - Design the look and feel of the document

Designing the look and feel of the document involves deciding what format to use. For many projects a paper document may not be the best choice, an online help system or a web page may provide a better solution. It is important that the document looks good and is easy to read, so you need to consider the page layout, use of white space and visual density. You also need to take into account navigation features, so that multiple users can navigate through the document in different ways. At this stage you must also check if there are corporate guidelines or style guides that the document needs to adhere to.

Step 8 - Begin the writing process

Now you have a good idea of the content and a template to work with you can begin the writing process. During the writing process you focus on presenting information consistently, separating procedural information and reference material, determine the most effective use of images and diagrams, and making sure the information is tailored to the appropriate audience.

Step 9 - Edit and proofread the documentation

Finally you edit and proofread the documentation. You check each document against a proofreading checklist. If there is a style guide for the documentation then base the checklist on the style guide. This is an iterative process where the sentence structure and clarity of the document improves with each pass.

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How College Professors Can Check For Plagiarism

College students are working harder than ever before and it's just not academically - cheating is nearly everywhere on campus. More and more students have admitted that they've cheated at least once in their academic career. To combat the growing plagiarism problem, college professors are finding they need to get creative to check for plagiarism.

How Students Cheat

Gone are the days where students could only cheat by passing papers around between friends in student housing. The Internet has made sharing research papers easier than ever - even between students in different parts of the country who've never even met.

Students can now go online to any of a number of web sites dedicated to helping students share homework. These sites are free databases where it's easy for students to find and download research papers on nearly every possible subject.

How Professors Used To Check For Plagiarism

Professors and their teaching assistants used to be limited to their own brains when they would check for plagiarism. They had to have read the paper before and remember it. If the student changed just a few words every few sentences, chances were that it wouldn't be caught.

Since professors and teaching assistants typically read hundreds of papers every semester, it was nearly impossible to check for plagiarism and chances were good that the students would get away with a little plagiarism.

How A Plagiarism Detector Works

While the Internet has made cheating easier, it's also created plagiarism checking software. Professors can hire a company to act as a plagiarism detector, easing their workload. Professors can upload any submitted work to an online server. The paper is then checked against the database of the plagiarism checking software.

A plagiarism detector needs to have a large database in order to be effective. The software should check against works published in magazines, journals and books, academic, legal and medical databases, as well as writings published online in blogs and message boards. After scanning the database, the plagiarism detector then sends a report to the professor.

A good plagiarism detector should be able to tell the difference between an intentional copy and an unintentional one. Some even have a setting to uncover if the student has taken an already used paper and changed a few words using a thesaurus. Some plagiarism checking software is even available for foreign language classes. Common languages like Spanish, German, French and Italian can be found.

Of course, the best software can't check for plagiarism if it isn't affordable for professors. It's important to do a little research on the different services available and find one that's affordable and effective.

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Waxing Exam Questions - Examples for Your Revision Plan

Waxing is a popular treatment in a beauty salon, so as a beauty therapist you need to be 100% confident with your technique and make sure your knowledge of waxing is second to none. Having a large selection of waxing exam questions is therefore essential to any beauty student's study plan.

There are 4 different types of wax including;

Hot
Warm
Cold
Sugar

You need to know the difference between each one, the ingredients, what temperature they should be, what areas of the body they are used on and how to apply the wax etc.

Another vital area that needs to be covered when you are studying waxing is the anatomy and physiology part of it, namely anatomy of the skin and hair.

Take a look at the following waxing questions and see how many you can answer, try not to look at the answers;

1. What temperature should warm wax be used at? (Around 43 degrees C)
2. What 3 things make up the hair shaft? (Medulla, Cortex, Cuticle)
3. What are the 3 stages of the hair growth cycle? (Catagen, Telogen, Anagen)
4. What type of wax is ideally used on stronger, short hairs? (Hot)
5. Where is sebum produced? (Sebaceous Glands)

How did you do? These are the most basic questions that you need to know so if you were not able to answer even 1 of them, then you need to alter your revision plan.

A lot of terminology that you need to learn can be very difficult to remember so using your waxing revision questions over and over again will greatly improve your chances of retaining the information.

A lot of examining bodies such as ITEC, VTCT, NVQ and CIDESCO offer multiple choice questions as the format for the exam. Some examples of these type of waxing exam questions include the following;

01. Which endocrine gland is known as the master gland?
a) Pineal
b) Thyrod
c) Adrenal
d) Pituitary - Answer

02. Warm waxes are frequently made of mixtures of;
a) Resin and oil
b) Glucose syrup and honey
c) Glucose syrup and zinc oxide - Answer
d) Honey and witch hazel

03. Which one of the following is a cause of ingrowing hairs?
a) Too much exfoliation
b) Oily skin
c) Hot wax
d) Poor waxing technique - Answer

04. What is the composition of the cortex?
a) Thin, unpigmented flat cells
b) Thick, pigmented cells
c) Several layers of closely packed elongated cells - Answer
d) Several layer of closely packed endothelial cells

The secret to passing your waxing exam is having a structured revision plan which includes various exam questions and quizzes that you can revise.

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Five Steps to Quality Essay Writing

No two writers think alike. Everyone is unique. For the same reason, everyone has his own manner of using language. But as far as the science of essay writing is concerned, there are some general parameters to be followed. While writing an essay, certain tips will help you to make it an excellent one.

1. A Well Balanced Essay

Ideas should not be written in a Chaotic or disorganized manner. There must be an easy and automatic flow. You are not supposed to stop an essay in the middle of a hot issue. Proceed in such a way that each and every sentence must guide you to the conclusion. The beginning, the middle and the end must be crystal clear to the readers. How you begin, how you proceed and how you end up; all have equal importance in the assessment of an essay.

A well begun stuff pushes the readers to keep on reading it. Though the middle portion of the essay bears the essence of your topic, the conclusion is not of less importance. In short, each and every part of an essay is next to nothing.

2. Too Much is Too Bad

Never go for marathon writing. Essays must not be too long. It kills the grandeur of your work. Write the relevant points using minimum number of words which are apt and attractive. Though there are no strict rules governing the length of the essays, it is always desirable to finish it with 350 words. However you are free to break this unwritten law to a certain extent, considering the seriousness of your subject matter. A topic which requires much statements and explanations can take a little more length. But keep in mind the above said words; Too much is too bad.

3. Be up-to-the-minute

No need to mention the importance of 'knowledge chase' in the process of every type of writings. All findings start when you start finding the apt source. But don't be cheated by resources which are outdated. Be accurate in selecting the right assistance.

You can surpass your fellow students by attempting something new. Go for innovation in whatever field you indulge in. Any creative writing stuff can be made exceptional by clinging on to latest information on air. It shows that you are keeping the right pace with the world around.

4. Style par excellent

Don't use unnatural and unfamiliar words. An inclination to use these types of words seems to be made-up. A highly intricate language with full of unnecessary ornamentation leads the reader to finish reading from the middle. Use natural expressions in a novel way. Don't make sentences too complicated and too polished. Let them be interactive and conversing. Make it a thorough piece of objective one.

5. A flavor of personal touch

Study an issue from a number of possible angles. After finding creative assistance from experienced hands, add your own opinion. Give a personal touch to it. As far as your assignment is concerned, what others said is only secondary. An essay should not be a collection of the opinions of great writers and orators. There should be your stamp in it. Your own feelings and outlooks make the essay solely yours. Never be under the impression that you are second to somebody. Think that you are a person of importance. Crush the psychological barrier to include your individuality in your writings. Keep in mind; you are capable of doing anything great.

"Winners don't do different things. They do things differently".

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How to Write an Essay for College or University

If you don't know how to write an essay, going back to college or starting a university course can be a daunting prospect. If it is years since you have done any type of studying, let alone essay writing, don't worry - most colleges, including online universities - have study skills information, including homework study tips and essay writing guides.

So if you are concerned about your writing skills, consider getting some help with things like paragraph structure, punctuation and grammar and spelling. Most colleges provide this free and you will also be able to find many free resources online. The first thing you need to be clear about before you start your essay is the type of essay you will be writing.

There are many different essay styles and it is crucial to know what is expected of you. Universities, colleges and individual tutors will tend to have their own preferences and so it's important to make sure you know the right formula for your course. You can find a lot of information to help you online, but do check everything with your tutor or writing support tutor before you go ahead with writing your essay.

Types of Essay

There are many different types of essay and the names may vary according to where you live. These include argumentative essays, academic essays, cause and effect essays, descriptive essays and narrative essays. You might also have to write an admissions essay if you are applying for a place at university or you could be asked to write an essay for a scholarship. Other types of essay include comparison essays and research essays. Knowing the type of essay expected will help you to come up with the best format. If you are new to essay writing, ask your tutor to explain.

Understanding the Essay Title

This is one of the most important aspects of essay writing. You can write a brilliant essay, but will get very low marks and probably fail your assignment if you have not answered the question which was asked. So before you put pen to paper make sure you have interpreted the title correctly. If you are asked to choose your own essay title, it is a good idea to check with your tutor that it is suitable.

Brainstorming Once you have a firm essay title and are clear what it means, you can have a brainstorming session to come up with as made ideas as you can which relate to your essay title. If you have a lot of ideas, the next stage is to narrow them down to the most important and most relevant points.

Research

Depending on the topic of your essay, you may need to do some background research. This could be to find evidence to support your point of view or argument or to find out what people who are experts in the field thing about a particular subject. Or it could be to find scientific or historical facts or statistical data.

You will need to keep a record of your sources so that you can include them in your bibliography. So when you find useful information which you might use, write down the name of the book or journal, the edition, page number, author, date of publication and publisher

Or the website, with the exact URL and the date on which you accessed it. If you do this as you are doing your research, it will save you a lot of time later. It's very annoying and time consuming if you find you have a wonderful piece of information or a great quotation and you can't remember where you found

Planning Your Essay

Planning your essay involves organizing your ideas into a logical order. You can do this by creating a mind map or by making a list of headings with bullet points under each. Your essay needs to be well structured

Essay Structure

Before you begin, make sure you know the word limit for your essay. You will usually be given a definite number eg 1500 words or 2000- 2500 words. If you are given a fixed number, it is usually acceptable to write 10% fewer or 10% more words. If you are given a range, try to stay within that range. However, check this with your tutor as you don't want to be penalized.

You will need to write an introduction which explains what you are writing about, introduces your central idea and the point of view you plan to support.

Then you will go through each of the relevant points, linking them in a way that flows and makes sense of the topic.

Finally, you will write a short conclusion which reminds readers of your main argument and summarizes the way in which you have supported that argument, adding strength to your position. In some essays you will include additional material to the conclusion, for example pointing out areas which still require research or the limits of your own research, but this is something to discuss with your tutor or study skill support staff who are teaching you how to write an essay.

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Informal Reading and Language Based Assessments For Elementary Grade Students

Assessment 1

Name of Assessment: The names Test of Decoding
Source: Phonics they use by Patricia M. Cunningham

Assessment Goal: A word decoding and word knowledge test using single and polysyllabic first and last names

Format: The test is made up of a set of 35 first and last names (70 words in all), representing various patterns, phonetic sounds, consonant blends, vowel sounds, and syllables. It is a more natural and appropriate set of words to decode, for students in grades four and up. Ask the child to pretend they are the teacher and they are taking morning attendance.

Scoring procedure: Use a check to indicate correct responses and write the phonetic spelling for any incorrect responses. If the student does not attempt a name, write "no" next to that name and encourage the child to continue. For polysyllabic words, consider the word correct regardless of where the student places the accent on the word. Each correct word/name is one point. However, I was not able to find what scores indicate frustration, instructional, and independent levels in Phonics they use or in my research. (See reflections below).

Time to Administer: There are no time constraints in this assessment.

Reason for administering this test: There are many word recognition and decoding tests that can be given, but according to Cunningham, " I wanted a measure of their (students) word identification ability that was not confounded but context but that was not just a list. Cunningham went on to explain that reading from a word list is unnatural and choosing the words is difficult since you risk choosing sight words they may already know. This test id more authentic and meaningful

Reflections: Since this is a qualitative test, I imagine there are no scoring levels and I might be mistaken about each word being worth one point. This test is designed to see; in what phonetic area the student needs instruction or support. This is a more authentic means of looking at a student's word attack techniques and decoding skills.

Assessment 2

Name of Assessment: Roswell-Chall Diagnostic Reading Test
Source: Florence G Roswell and Jeanne S. Chall

Assessment Goals: Designed to evaluate the basic word analysis (decoding) and word recognition skills of primary grade children. To assess student's ability to decode words with long and short vowel sounds, vowel patterns, word families, consonant blends, multi-syllabic words, and letter recognition and sounds.

Format: Section 1A - Ask student to tell you the sound the letter makes. If they cannot, ask them to tell you a word that starts with that letter. Section 1B - Repeat procedure from 1A. Section 1C - Have the student to vertically read the words in each word family group. You may model the first one. Example: Read, "am", then read, "clam". Section 2A - Have the students read the words across. If they read a word incorrectly, write down what they said. This section is assessing students' ability to decode words with short vowel sounds. Section 2B - The vowels are in isolation. Ask student to tell you the long and short sound each vowel makes. Section 2C - Have the student read the two vertical words in each column. For example, show "mat/mate". This section assesses student's ability to decode words with a "silent e". Sections 3A&3B - Assessing long vowel sounds with and without vowel pairs. Have students read the words across. Section 4 - Tell students, Here are some longer words." Model the first word, and then ask the student to read the rest of the words across.

Scoring Procedure: Each correct answer is worth one point. There is a scoring sheet. The assessment is to help the instructor plan instruction to support and strengthen weak areas.

Time to administer: No time constraints.

Reason for giving this assessment: To determine the student's ability to decode words that are made up of different sounds and blends and to determine if the student understands vowel patterns and rules such as "silent e", and differences in long and short sounding vowels and vowel pairs. It also helps to evaluate basic word analysis (decoding) and word recognition skills.

Reflections: This is a basic assessment that builds on phonemic awareness. Also, if a student is not successful in completing all sections and instruction is designed to improve weak skills, retesting would show any improvement the student makes.

Assessment 3

Name of Assessment and source: Gates-McKillop-Horowitz Reading Diagnostic Tests: Second edition, Teachers College Press, 1981
(Auditory Blending and Auditory Discrimination)

Assessment Goals: "Assess the strengths and weaknesses in reading and related areas of a particular child." Auditory blending and discrimination tests are given to provide the instructor with insight towards the student's ability to understand that words are comprised of phonemes. Both subtests also assess students' auditory (listening) comprehension. To diagnose reading problems requires assessment in phonemic awareness and word recognition.

Format: Auditory Blending-Teacher is to accurately pronounce the phonemes of each word. The student upon listening to the word shall put it together and say what they hear. The student is allowed a second attempt if they are incorrect in their first identification.

Auditory Discrimination-Turn the student around and have their back facing the instructor. The teacher may provide the student with a sample such as showing a pen and pencil and asking whether they are the same or different. The teacher reads two words and the student, without looking, is to respond either if the words are the same or different.

Scoring Procedure: Auditory Blending-The teacher is to write exactly what the student says. A raw score is constructed giving1 point for correct on the first try, and half a point for correct on the second try. Then, the score is compared to the average.

Auditory Discrimination-The student is given one trial and the raw score is comprised of how many correct answers the student gets. The score is then compared to an average determined score.

Time to administer: These portions of the test are relatively quick to tests to administer. There are no time restrictions or constraints.

Ways assessment guides instruction: These tests assess the student's receptive and auditory abilities. Quite often, reading difficulties come from a child not able to distinguish sounds or individual phonemes, or are unable to put them together. The test will help clarify where those difficulties lie, so as corrective instruction can be given.

Reflections: Often when a young child had multiple ear infections during sensitive language acquisition stages, they may suffer a degree of hearing loss. The child may have difficulty deciphering certain sounds or unit phonemes. This test may pick up on a hearing issue that can impact on language related skills.

Assessment 4

Name of Assessment: San Diego Quick Assessment or Graded Word List (GWL)
Source: Ekwall, e., & Shanker, J.L. (1988). Diagnosis and remediation of the disabled reader (3rd edition). Boston, M.A: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., pp. 102-103

Assessment Goals: The San Diego Quick Assessment is a set of graded word lists that you can use to determine the learner's word recognition ability. It also helps to assess speed and automaticity of word identification.

Format, scoring procedure, time to administer: Put each of the following word lists on a 3x5 inch index card. Hint: On the back of the card put-

--. Pre-primer level
-. Primer
. First Grade level
. Second Grade Level
... Third Grade Level, etc.

The reason for labeling is that if you drop the cards, you can sort them in order, but an older student cannot readily tell what grade level he or she is reading on. It is recommended to laminate cards or insert them in plastic sleeves.

Directions: Tell student "There are ten words on each card. I would like you to try every word on this card." Give the student one card at a time. Write words mispronounced. The test begins with the card of the words that are two levels below the actual grade level of the student. The cards are read while the administrator notes which words have been missed. Once the student misses three on a list, the test is compete and the testing goes no further.

1 word missed = Independent Level

2 words missed = Instructional Level

3 words missed = Frustration Level

Reason for giving this test: This assessment serves as a tool to gain an approximate estimate of the student's reading level, but does not measure comprehension or the ability of the student to define the words. It serves as an indicator to whether more testing is appropriate.

Reflections: Although this test is quick to administer and gives a snapshoot into a child's word recognition, other assessments need to be given to get a full picture of the child's abilities.

Assessment 5

Name of Assessment: The Developmental Spelling Test
Source: J. Richard Gentry & Jean Wallace Gillet, 1993

Assessment Goals: The Developmental Spelling Test was designed to help teachers determine the specific stage of spelling development at which a child, in primary grades K-2, is functioning at. The five stages are Precommunicative, Semiphonetic, Phonetic, Transitional, and Conventional.

Format: The teacher calls out each spelling word on the list, followed by the provided sentence, and then repeats the spelling word again. The teacher should, "explain that the activity will not be graded as right or wrong, but will be used to see how children think certain difficult words should be spelled. Be encouraging, and make the activity challenging, playful, and fun" (Gentry, 1993). Teachers are looking for inventive spelling.

Example of word list:

1. Monster I do not like to watch monster movies.
2. United You live in the United States.
3. Dress The girl wore a new dress.
4. Bottom A big fish lives at the bottom of the lake.
5. Hiked We hiked to the top on the hill.
6. Human Miss Piggy is not a human.
7. Eagle An eagle is a powerful bird.
8. Closed The little girl closed the door.
9. Bumped The car bumped into the bus.
10. Type What type of pet do you want?

Scoring Procedure:

Precommunicative spellers randomly string letters together to form words: spelling does not correspond to sound. (Example: rtes for monster)
Semiphonic spellers know that letters represent sounds, but usually abbreviate the spelling in a way that either leaves off initial and/or final sounds. (Example: m for monster)
Phonetic spellers spell the words as they sound, though spelling may ne unconventional. (Example: mostr for monster)

Reason for administering this test: To see where the child places in spelling and to create instruction that will strengthen the student's skills. It can be used as a measure of growth as we. Seeing where the student needs help, for example with end sounds, instruction and activities can do done that focus on the ending sounds of words.

Reflection: It is helpful to let the child know that this spelling test is not a graded test but that the student is helping you, the teacher learn how children think when they are attempting to spell unfamiliar words. It is also good to catch potential spelling difficulties early enough to teach proper spelling patterns and rules that would be helpful as the student enters the upper grades.

Assessment 6

Name of Assessment: Wepman Auditory Discrimination Test
Source: Joseph M. Wepman (Revised 1973)

Assessment Goals: To determine the ability of students to recognize the fine differences that exist between the phonemes used in English speech. This assessment can be given to students and to adults as well.

Format, scoring procedure, and time to administer: The examiner's sheet consists of thirty word pairs differing in a single phoneme in each pair and ten word pairs which do not differ. Thirteen out of the thirty word pairs differ in initial consonants, another thirteen word pairs differ in final consonants and four word pairs differ in the medial vowels. The test is administered orally to one student at a time. The student is seated so that he or she cannot see the examiner's mouth or the words on the examiner's word sheet. The examiner reads each word pair only once, and the student indicates whether the examiner read the same word twice of read two different words. The examiner records the student's responses on the exam sheet. The test takes approximately five minutes to administer. After the test has been completed, the examiner tallies all errors made in both the "x" and "y" columns and writes the sums in the boxes labeled "x" and "y" scores at the bottom of the test sheet.

Reason for administrating the test: Similar to the Gates-McKillop-Horowitz , the Wepman test was designed to assess a person's ability to recognize slight differences in sounds of words that are close in resonance.

Ways assessment guide instruction: Assessing where a problem lies helps in planning instruction. Again, as a result, hearing problems can be detected.

Reflections: This is a very thorough test and the scoring varies according to the age of the person being tested. Phonemic awareness is very important for early readers and this test is a good indicator if a child can hear individual unit sounds.

Assessment 7

Name of Assessment: Harp Free Retell
Source: The Handbook of literacy assessment and evaluation. Harp, B. (2000).

Assessment Goals: Using specific rubrics for the Narrative Retelling Checklist and the Expository Retelling Checklist, teachers can gage the comprehension level of the student based on the student's ability to orally retell a story he or she has read.

Format, scoring procedure, and time to administer: The Narrative Retelling Checklist is an assessment set up like a checklist asking students to identify story elements, conflict and key ideas, and problem resolution. All narratives share elements such as character, setting, plot or problem, turning points or key episodes, and end with a resolution to the problem or issue. The checklist accounts for aided and unaided, oral and written retellings. Rubric scores points from 4 down to 1 (4 being the most successful retelling). This is not a timed assessment.

Reason for administering this test: To help young readers identify story elements and main ideas, which aid in comprehension. Teachers can measure the level of detail a student uses when retelling a narrative, or important and main concepts, sequencing events, utilization of charts, graphs, and maps in an expository piece.

Ways in which results can be used in planning instruction: Activities to promote comprehension, focus on story elements, and recalling ideas would be activated if the student's retelling are weak. Graphic organizers, look backs, think alouds, five 'W's and the 'how' are ways in which a student can visually see the important facts needed in a successful retelling.

Reflections: I tried to get more information about this assessment by searching on the Internet, but did not find anything further. This assessment seems self-exclamatory and I think as a qualitative test, it is the up to the examiner's judgment to figure out where the student needs support and help.

Assessment 8

Name of Assessment: Barr Rubric for writing (WRITING SCALE 1, Grades K-3: Becoming a writer)
Source: Assessing literacy with the learning record; A handbook for teachers, Grades K-6: The Learning Record Assessment Systemä.

Assessment Goal: A guide for teachers to focus on the characteristics of developing student writers, from the physical act of putting oral language on paper, chalkboard, or computer screen to actual use of writing to communicate meaning.

Format: The scale integrates the transcription and composing aspects of writing as one supports and reinforces the other. The scale describes six stages of development:

1. Beginning writer

2. Early writer

3. Developing writer

4. Moderately fluent writer

5. Fluent writer

6. Exceptionally fluent writer

Scoring Procedure: Scores from one to six record writers in varying levels of dependence to independence in their writing.

Time to administer: Students should collect their writing all year in portfolios of their work. A range of writing for various purposes, on both assigned and self-chosen topics, can be samples periodically for signs of progress and information for instruction.

Reason for administering this test: To see where the student is as a writer and to prepare instruction and support to take the student to the next level of writing. Using the rubric will pinpoint areas that need to be addressed and drive instruction in those areas.

Reflections: Students can look at their own work and determine what should go into the portfolio. They can measure their own success in writing and can strive for improvement. Teachers can focus on the parts of writing that needs work. The teacher and the student are partners in working together in selection of the work and in conferencing about pieces of writing.

Assessment 9

Name of assessment: CLOZE
Source: Dr. Seidenberg; Classroom discussion

Assessment Goals: A quantitative assessment that will produce a number score to assess reading comprehension

Format: CLOZE is a method by which you systematically delete every fifth word, after the first sentence of a 300 to 500 word passage, and evaluate students' ability to correctly supply the deleted words using context clues and drawing from their own vocabulary. The last sentence in the text remains intact. Therefore, a 500-word piece would have 100 deletions. A 300-word piece would have 60 deletions.

Scoring the CLOZE: Every word the student matches exactly is considered correct.
Score Levels:

58-100 Independent
44-57 Instructional
0-43 Frustration

Reason for giving the CLOZE and implications for instruction.
A score of 58 percent or higher indicates student read the passage with competence. Reading individually will not be difficult for the student.
A score between 44 and 57 percent indicates the passage can be read with some competence by the student; however, reading with some guidance would be beneficial.
A score below 43 percent will probably be too difficult for the student. A great deal of guidance will be needed, or other material should be substituted.

This is a means of assessing the comprehension level of the student, therefore aiding in preparing instruction or support, for example, working with improving vocabulary, context clues, and providing background knowledge.

Reflections: My student found this to be a fun activity. It is more interactive for the child and is exciting being able to complete the story as if the student was helping the author write it. A fun extension for this assessment is a Mad Libs activity. While it is not the same as CLOZE, it is helpful in teaching parts of speech and the results are humorous or nonsense stories, which children seem to enjoy.

Assessment 10

Name of Assessment: Concepts About Print by Marie Clay

Materials used: Concepts About Print; What children learned about the way we print language? and (C.A.P) Concepts about print story booklet, Stones by Marie Clay

Assessment Goals: Especially relevant to the assessment of pre-reading or emergent literacy competencies such as:
Book orientation knowledge
Principles involving the directional arrangement of print on the page
The knowledge that print, not the pictures, contain the story
Understanding of important reading terminology like word, letter, beginning of the sentence, top of the page.
Understanding of simple punctuation marks

Format:

Very scripted as outlined below:

Use one of the C.A.P booklets by Marie Clay such as Stones, Sand, Follow Me, Moon, or No Shoes. Or use a simple, illustrated children's book that the student has not seen before.
Hand the student the book, with the spine facing the child and say, "Show me the front of the book."
Open the book directly to the place where print in on one page and a picture on the other. Then say, "Show me where I begin reading." Make sure the child shows the exact place.
Stay on the same set of pages and after the child points to the spot where you begin reading, say, "Show me with your finger where I go next." Then ask, "Where do I go from there?"
Turn to a new page and say, "Point to the beginning of the story on this page>" Then say, "Point to the end of the story on this page."
Turning to another pair of pages and say, "Show me the bottom of the page," (page 8) and then "Show me the top of the page.' Point to the picture and say, "Show me the bottom of the picture," and then, "Show me the top of the picture." (page 7)

On the same page, point to a capital letter with your pencil and say, "Show me a little letter that is the same as this one." (I on page 6) Next, point to a lowercase letter and say, "Now point to the capital letter that is the same as this one." (t on page 12) You may wish to repeat this procedure with other pairs of letters.
Turn to a page that has a period, an exclamation point, a question mark, a comma, and a set of quotation marks. Point to each in turn and ask, "What is this? What is it for?"

Scoring Procedure:

Observe and notate the child's responses on the Concepts About Print Score sheet using the Quick Reference for Scoring Standards, assigning one point for each item scored. A scale of 1 to 9 (Stanines) are provided for age groups between 5 and 7 in order to see how children compare with other children in their age groups.

Time to Administer:

As far as I could see, there was no timed element to this test and some children may answer more promptly than others.

Reasons I chose this assessment: I feel it is important to assess and support young emergent readers by building a foundation for them to construct literacy skills and strategies. The basics come first and we as teachers should not take for granted that every child entering a school environment (pre-school or kindergarten) knows these basic concepts about print. Once we are assured that they are comfortable with the concepts, we can teach further skills for successful readers and writers.

Ways in which results can be used in planning instruction:

After assessing the child's knowledge of print, teachers plan instruction and teach the unknown concepts. Retesting should be done to compare and monitor growth.

Reflections:

It is hard to reflect on this assessment because I have never administered it. However, as I stated above it is more important and age appropriate to assess young children's concept of print, rather than the pressure that has recently been applied for children to memorize all their letters and some words as a part of being literacy ready. Children need to understand the concepts of print before they can make sense of reading and writing.

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