This year, OUSD schools are introducing i-Ready smart tests in high schools in order to improve students’ reading comprehension.
The i-Ready reading diagnostic is an adaptive test that aims to measure students’ reading analysis abilities. Most of the test consists of inspecting dense texts and answering questions ranging from basic comprehension to intensive dissection. On the left is the section with text. On the right are corresponding multiple-choice questions that assess understanding and analyzation abilities. Other areas of the test require the application of synonyms, antonyms, and other tests of literary analysis. Though it has been administered to students at the elementary and middle school levels of OUSD for the past few years, it is now being brought to the high school level for the first time in the district. The previous test that analyzed students’ reading comprehension was the SRI, which OUSD has discontinued due to the narrow amount of feedback it gives teachers.
“[The i-Ready test] gives us a lot of information around reading analysis: how you can understand and analyze an informational text, how you understand an essay written by a classical writer;” explains Mr. Price. “It gives more insight into a student’s ability around not just reading, but literacy.”
Students of OUSD are required to take standardized tests such as the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), as well as various others, at multiple points between kindergarten and their senior year of high school. According to the district, these tests help families understand where their student is placed relative to their peers. Based on data from the recently administered i-Ready test, only 36% of Tech students are reading at, or above grade level. Additionally, 35% of students have scored three or more grade levels below their current grade.
“An alarmingly high number of our Oakland Tech students are not reading at a high school level,” faculty member Mr. Fraters explains; “We have been underperforming for a long time in literacy.”
Mr. Fraters is a Teacher on Special Assignment, tasked specifically with improving students’ proficiency in English through the implementation of i-Ready to Tech as a whole.
Most teachers and administrators have expressed positive opinions about the i-Ready test, but some students and educators still have their reservations. Many have brought up the issue that i-Ready distracts from the curriculum and asks for too much stamina from students. This stands on top of the general fact that students have pre-existing issues with the tedious concept of standardized tests
“It’s a lot longer, and it’s also a lot more work,” says Junior Sophie Perry. “It can be harder for some students to finish, especially if they struggle with reading.”
While the point of the test is to identify students who are struggling in these areas, i-Ready is significantly longer than the SRI, and students are not the only ones criticizing the length of the diagnostic.
“I had to scrap all of my lessons this week for it,” says English and Ethnic Studies teacher Ms. Vaughn, “and some of the students still aren’t done, which feels a little stressful.”
Some students feel that standardized tests don’t accurately take into account the strengths and weaknesses of every unique student, especially the special needs students who account for 10% of Oakland Tech’s total student body.
Others have argued that it’s beneficial for tests like i-Ready to take up more substantial amounts of time. It suggests that the test is collecting more precise information than past assessments.
“You can’t rush good data,” argues Mr. Price. “If the time is well utilized by students and well utilized by teachers, you will have data that will help strengthen both the learning and teaching of the students and teachers.”
The diagnostic will be administered two more times this year: once in history classes, and once again in science classes.