The first edition of An Observation Survey has been used in educational systems worldwide. It has introduced thousands of teachers to ways of observing children's progress in the early years of learning about literacy. It has also helped them determine which children need supplementary teaching.
Thoroughly revised and updated, this second edition includes several new features:
- Theoretical discussions are reflected in a careful balance between reading and writing processes, in the ways each task is introduced, and in new examples of children's responses and teachers' record keeping.
- Consistency with the accompanying video makes administration of the Observation Survey easier and more effective.
- New stanine tables relate to today's children. Tables for four groups start at age five. Ohio stanines are provided for Fall, mid-year, and Spring assessing.
- Half-yearly assessments allow more rapid identification of children whose progress is falling behind their classmates.
- Appendixes feature more technical details of the statistical characteristics of the subtasks and the Survey and include correlations of the tasks, one with another. Graphs and box plots show how surges of progress occur at different times on different tasks.
- A new separate booklet of Copymasters provides official recording forms and summary sheets to administer the Survey.
The new second edition requires no retraining, but offers teachers the opportunity to refresh their understanding of standard assessment practices. The Survey is indispensable for teachers who work individually with children having temporary difficulties with literacy learning. It also allows teachers to give administrators an easy-to-understand account of an individual child's progress between two points in time. And for students of emerging literacy behaviors, observation procedures like these are essential to training.
Also available: An Observation Survey: The Video.
