WIRED.5 is a dimension of our WIRED (Wide Interest Reading English Development) programme for years 7 – 9 students at St Patrick’s College. In consultation with the Literacy Coordinator we are using each student’s On-Demand Adaptive Literacy Test results to set individual goals for improvement by the end of the year. Explicit reading skills are presented through the WIRED programme and boys are asked to practise these skills while they read their choice of books. Although students read at different levels we aim for all students to achieve a minimum .5 improvement on the AusVels reading level scale at the end of the year when they are retested.
Being able to personalise goals allows developing readers to be encouraged to make good reading choices to assist their continued development and competent readers to extend the breadth and depth of their reading experiences. As for any skill, improvement can only be gained through practice. We have ample titles in the Kelty Resource Centre collection to support the wide range of reading abilities and interests of our students.
At the end of the year we analyse both reading habits and On demand test results and present our findings to the English faculty. This also informs our decisions when we review and update the program for the next year.
Click here for a review of our WIRED data for 2015.
Being able to personalise goals allows developing readers to be encouraged to make good reading choices to assist their continued development and competent readers to extend the breadth and depth of their reading experiences. As for any skill, improvement can only be gained through practice. We have ample titles in the Kelty Resource Centre collection to support the wide range of reading abilities and interests of our students.
At the end of the year we analyse both reading habits and On demand test results and present our findings to the English faculty. This also informs our decisions when we review and update the program for the next year.
Click here for a review of our WIRED data for 2015.
Why .5?
Tests like TORCH and NAPLAN are STANDARDISED not ADAPTIVE (e.g. a high TORCH score such as a Stanine 9 doesn’t tell you where the student is, just that they are high in terms of the standardised test administered). The current pool of questions reflects the Australian Curriculum in Victoria – AusVELS (1-10.9) and therefore the general expectation would be for a student to improve one level each year. However, some research suggests that students in the Middle Years can experience slower educational progress. Furthermore, it would be unreasonable to expect students with learning needs or those who are operating above the expected level to develop a whole level. Therefore, it was agreed that .5 was a reasonable expectation for a student’s reading to improve over the course of a year. Each boy had their ODT result delivered personally to them and they were encouraged to aim high for improvement.
Warning! Remember the AusVELS score should be part of a teacher’s triangulation of assessment for each individual student.
Warning! Remember the AusVELS score should be part of a teacher’s triangulation of assessment for each individual student.
