RICA Literacy Assessment and Diagnosis 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A teacher uses a running record to assess a student's oral reading. What information does this assessment PRIMARILY provide?
- The student's phonemic awareness level
- The student's reading accuracy, error patterns, and use of cueing systems (Correct answer)
- The student's writing fluency
- The student's listening comprehension
Correct answer: The student's reading accuracy, error patterns, and use of cueing systems
Running records capture oral reading behaviors, allowing teachers to analyze accuracy, error types, and which cueing systems the student uses.
Question 2: What is the MAIN purpose of formative assessment in a RICA-aligned reading program?
- To assign final grades for report cards
- To provide ongoing information that guides instructional decisions and identifies student needs (Correct answer)
- To rank students against national norms
- To satisfy state accountability requirements only
Correct answer: To provide ongoing information that guides instructional decisions and identifies student needs
Formative assessment is ongoing, low-stakes evaluation used to adjust instruction and support individual student learning.
Question 3: An informal reading inventory (IRI) provides information about a student's independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels. Which level is MOST important for selecting classroom texts?
- Frustration level, because it challenges students most
- Instructional level, because students can grow with teacher support (Correct answer)
- Independent level, because students read without errors there
- Above-grade level, because it raises expectations
Correct answer: Instructional level, because students can grow with teacher support
The instructional level represents the 'zone of proximal development' for reading — challenging enough to grow but manageable with teacher guidance.
Question 4: A teacher administers a phonics screener to a kindergarten class in September. This is an example of:
- Summative assessment
- Universal screening (Correct answer)
- Diagnostic assessment
- Criterion-referenced testing
Correct answer: Universal screening
Universal screening involves assessing all students at the start of the year to identify those at risk and in need of additional support.
Question 5: What does a 'miscue analysis' reveal that a simple error count does NOT?
- The total number of words read correctly
- The type of errors made and what they indicate about the student's reading strategies (Correct answer)
- The student's reading speed in words per minute
- Whether the student has passed grade-level benchmarks
Correct answer: The type of errors made and what they indicate about the student's reading strategies
Miscue analysis categorizes errors by type (semantic, syntactic, graphophonic) to reveal which reading strategies the student relies on or neglects.
Question 6: A student scores at the 20th percentile on a norm-referenced reading assessment. This means the student:
- Answered 20% of questions correctly
- Performed better than 20% of students in the norming group (Correct answer)
- Is reading at 20% of grade level
- Has mastered 20% of required reading standards
Correct answer: Performed better than 20% of students in the norming group
A percentile score indicates where a student falls relative to peers in the norming sample — the 20th percentile means scoring above 20% of the norming group.
RICA Literacy Assessment and Diagnosis 1
A teacher uses a running record to assess a student's oral reading.
What information does this assessment PRIMARILY provide?