Teacher Survey of the Accessibility and Text Features of the Computerized Oral Reading Evaluation (CORE). Technical Report #1601

There is strong theoretical support for oral reading fluency (ORF) as an essential building block of reading proficiency. The current and standard ORF assessment procedure requires that students read aloud a grade-level passage (˜ 250 words) in a one-to-one administration, with the number of words read correctly in 60 seconds constituting their ORF performance. The current study was part of a larger project to develop and validate a computerized ORF assessment system--Computerized Oral Reading Evaluation (CORE)--to reduce limitations in current ORF measures and procedures. The purposes of this technical report are to: (a) document whether the CORE system was accessible and useful for teachers, (b) explore potential differences between CORE and traditional ORF (i.e., easyCBM) passages, and (c) identify potential deficits in the three CORE lengths (˜ 25, 50, or 85 words). This information contributes to the response-process evidence for the CORE system's validity. Our results suggest that delivering, scoring, and storing ORF assessments online may be feasible, and desirable, for classroom teachers across Grades 2 through 4. In addition, although there were no distinct differences between CORE and traditional ORF passages, teacher reports suggest that the CORE short passages are most appropriate for Grade 2 students while CORE long and medium passages are preferred by teachers for students in Grades 3 and 4. Appendix A contains the teacher questionnaire.