Hello all,
In our son’s IEP the “DRA Observation Guide” is used as the objective measurment of progress toward annual reading goals.
He is supposedly being given reading instruction using the DISTAR/Reading Mastery program. (written into the IEP)
We wanted some sort of objective measurment of progress each quarter. The school wanted to use the DRA which talks about “tutoring levels”, etc. - they were very opposed to using grade level equivalents in the objectives - so we compromised on the “tutoring levels”. And my son’s teacher refers to the DRA as a running record.
Is the DRA a good measure of progress - or is it a “whole language” tool in disguise? This school is very resistent to phonics instruction - even though my dyslexic son has gained approximately 1 grade level in reading after almost four years of “special education” using their literacy based program. We fought to get something that resembles a systematic, explicit phonics program and compromised on the DISTAR.
We don’t see much progress when he is reading at home - still a lot of guessing and no sounding out strategies. He is supposedly using the DISTAR at school but there is no carry over to real life reading.
Is the DRA - running record a good method of assessing progress and if not, what would you suggest - and something that could be given quarterly by the special ed teacher?
Thank you.
Pam (SC)
Re: DRA as objective measurment of progress
DISTAR is NOT whole language. It is a direct instruction program that teaches SKILLS is small increments, with lots of review. It is scripted. I am not using the program. If it has an assessment component that tests mastery, I would assume this is a useful tool for assessing progress.
We do not use grade equivalencies for benchmark objectives. We cannot get a precise enough measure of monthly progress every 2-3 months. Standardized tests like the Woodcock Johnson were never created to be used for IEP objectives. Standardized test scores yield snapshots that are based on a small sample of skills and standardized with a so-called typical, statistically significant population. There are really no criterion-referenced measures (we want to use criterion-referenced measures for IEP objectives because they report the student’s progress toward a specific objective, usually reported in a percentage score). Criterion-referenced testing does not yield a grade equivalency score.
How long has your child been in this program? The amount of progress you see is dependent upon various variables, only one of which is the teacher and/or the program. We don’t always note immediate progress with many children once they start in special ed. programs. It can take months and months to build up enough skill mastery and practice to really show obvious evidence of progress, particularly if there are multiple processing deficits.
I teach LD youngsters. I know that DISTAR TEACHES sounding out skills. If your child is still guessing when you read with him or her, then you can start requiring that he use the skills and strategies he has been learning when he reads with you. He may be in the habit of guessing and this may be really hard to break when stepping outside of the instructional setting where he knows the expectation. Again, much of this depends upon how long the child was left to guessing in the first place and how long the remediation program has been in effect. Bad habits of some standing are very hard to break.
Re: DRA as objective measurment of progress
Anitya,
Thank you for your reply.
It is good to know that the DRA is a good measure of progress.
I know that DISTAR is not whole language … we fought really hard for Orton-Gillingham type instruction but compromised on the DISTAR.
Our concern is that the teacher is not too keen on using the DISTAR method and he is not getting enough carry-over or follow through with his other subjects in school … in other words, using sound symbol relationships to determine unknown words … we think the teacher reverts back to whole language techniques when not specifically teaching the DISTAR.
He is in a self-contained LD class of 7 which would give plenty of opportunity for follow-through. We have seen lots of regression to guessing at words since he started the DISTAR with this teacher. Of note is that he started the DISTAR with a homebound teacher over the summer and made good gains in 6 weeks. His teacher for this school year is different (and a whole different school district too).
I homeschooled him for a while about 1.5 years ago and we used Phono-graphix so he is very familar with sounding out - just not good at it because he has never had a consistent method of instruction through out his school years. I always make him sound things out but it is often after he has QUICKLY made 3 or 4 guesses at the word. I have to stop him, slow him down and we tackle the word by sounding out.
He has very poor blending and auditory processing skills and we just don’t feel that this teacher using DISTAR is what he needs.
I was concerned about the DRA because this school and the special ed teacher are very intrenched in the whole language stuff. The running record they did for the end of the second 9 weeks did show progression - but we were not seeing that at home when he was reading his class assigned reading books,etc. In fact, we felt he was regressing.
It is good to know from what you and Robin said that the DRA it is an adequate measure of progress.
Thank you.
Pam (SC)
some ideas that may help.
Perhaps you might try repeated readings of material accompanied by a slower well modulated voice or you can make an audio tape to listen to while he reads. This technique is called the Neural impress technique and will help with fluency. I think you have hit the nail on the head, the problem is the lack of consistency and perhaps the teacher is too scattered in the classroom to follow through. We had that problem with our daughters special ed teacher. She had training in the methodology that was to be used with our daughter but she refused to use it consistently and did not follow through.
Our daughter did regress during that year from lack of compliance by the special education teacher. So we pulled our daughter out of school and went back to what worked, reinforcing LiPS and doing it consistently accompanied by Read Naturally. Read Naturally really helped with reading accuracy and fluency, prevented the miscues and also expanded her vocabulary.
Re: DRA as objective measurment of progress
Pam,
“He has very poor blending and auditory processing skills and we just don’t feel that this teacher using DISTAR is what he needs.”
You are correct. That is not what he needs. If you think it is too much of a battle to get the school to change to an Orton-Gillingham type program, then I’d be seeking outside tutoring immediately. He is not making good progress because he does not have the fundamental skills. You can’t be a good reader if you don’t have the blending and phoneme manipulation skills. Go back and give him the PG tests and see where he is. If he is still low in any of those areas, you know what he needs to work on first.
Don’t be so concerned about what they are using to measure progress, but be very concerned about what they are not using to teach him. Being in a self-contained class could be wonderful if they were using the right methods, but so many school systems just don’t have a clue what they should be using.
Janis
A DRA isn’t a bad tool for measuring progress- it is used a lot by whole language folks but that doesn’t necessarily mean it does not have intrinsic worth. It is a running record- or reading inventory if you prefer. The student reads a passage aloud- usually somewhare between 50 and 100 words and the recorder takes data on how accurate they were and what kinds of errors were made. Then the student retells what they have read and also answers some specific questions about the passage.
My question for the team would be how they are going to determine the grade level of what he is reading- are they using the leveled books or a graded passage? There is likely to be a bit of a disconnect between what he is reading and those levels- and it may take him a while in the beginning to acquire enough decoding skill to move from level to level. As I recall- though I might be wrong- the ease of the reading level in some of those stories is determined as much by their lack of text on a page and the repetitiveness as the level of vocabulary.
As with anything- the accuracy of a DRA depends as much on the skill of the adminsitrrator as anything else.
Robin