Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Quick question! TPRI Assessment - any experience?

Just a quick question.. I'm going over the (massive) testing schedule at my son's new charter school, and one of the tests they do is the TPRI (Texas Primary Reading Inventory) to meet the NCLB requirements. His last school used DIBELS. Does anyone have an experience with TPRI? How long it takes, do the kids have to write at all, is comprehension included, that sort of thing.

I am loving that they assess the kids in Reading, Math, Science and Social studies at least twice a year - they use this for placement to be sure the kids are being challenged and learning what they need to learn. I am REALLY hoping this gets DS into the appropriate classes so he's not bored and causing trouble.

(ETA - One of the problems with this last school was that his reading assessment showed he was at >6 grade, but they still gave him the same 2nd grade work as everyone else!)

Wow - isn't that frustrating? Hate to hear stories like that.
Grinity

I think TPRI is administered to K, 1st, and 2nd Graders only. Kindergarten is mostly phonics recognition and listening comprehension (phonemic awareness, graphophonemic knowledge, and listening comprehension). First Grade adds word reading, story comprehension, and fluency of reading (WCPM). Grade 2 deletes word reading, but adds more complex comprehension. The WCPM has a minimum level required for the grade, but it is pretty low. I think only 60 WCPM were required at the 1st Grade level and 90 WCPM were required at the 2nd Grade level (but those numbers are off the top of my head and I don’t have them in front of me). No writing is required.

The TPRI is administered one on one and is relatively short based on what I’ve seen. It will vary based on the students reading speed and cooperation, but usually takes about 15-30 minutes (or less).

The higher grades switch to STAARS, but do include benchmarks of Science, Social Studies, Math, and Reading, which is a broad stretch and the kids either know the material (or not). For example in my DD’s 4th Grade benchmark at the end of the year, there were only 6 Science questions, 8 Social Studies questions, 10 Math questions, and 10 Reading questions. If the child misses a question or two, it will significantly impact their scores. These are just a benchmark to let the teachers know where their students are and to pinpoint areas of weakness.

I would definitely check with your child’s teacher and advocate for appropriate placement.

Good luck!

We're in central TX. Our daughter is in the TAG program here at an excellent elementary and our experience has been that the TPRI is more geared to identifying under-performing kids needing additional instruction vs. determining appropriate educational levels. TPRI yields D for developed skills and SD for still developing skills. Kids testing as SD are picked out for additional assistance. The D kids do not raise red flags as they will meet state testing requirements.

Thanks guys! We have orientation tomorrow w/the Magnet school and I have a list of questions for them already, hah!

@Grinity - Last year was sooo frustrating due to the way the school was setup. The teacher and all the administration were all amazingly nice and understanding and they all agreed DS knew all the require academic material, but still nothing was done! The only thing anyone would focus on was his behavior.

@TX G Mom - Apparently they can use it in beginning 3rd as well? Perhaps they only use it to test kids who were behind previously? I know he'll take the STAAR tests this year (woo! tests on stuff he's already known for over a year.)

@oncegifted - That's how the DIBELS was meant to be used as well, but they still sort-of used it to determine reading level... although, if the kids were more than like half a grade level ahead they were S.O.L.

A lot of bright adults have a wish that they hadn't had to work so hard in school. It makes it hard for a person to see past that to 'what a child doesn't learn.' Plus there is still that myth that 'gifted kids will be fine without us.'

Hopefully the magnet will be an improvement.

Bottom line: Until they hear from the parents about the emotional toll lack of challenge takes on kids, most folks won't be motivated to do anything. You have to cry when things get bad. Many of us have trained ourselves to stick to the facts and argue logic to get what we need, and suppress our emotions. It's a great tactic in general, but backfires in school settings.

((shrugs and more shrugs))
Grinity

I don't know if I'd call it lucky per se, but my oldest made for quick learning on the major drawbacks of lack of challenge and drill of materials she already knew b/c she did just that: cried. When I had a normally reserved (at least in public) six year old who was sitting at her desk crying in class, I knew that there was a major problem.

Oh Cricket2..that is so sad to picture. I can see it as lucky too if you were able to make things change once you got the message.