Critical incident reflection

Critical incident date: 11/12/15

Description
During this week I was introduced to the Southerland Phonological Awareness TestRevised (SPAT-R) that is used in the first four years of reading development to assess
beginning reading instruction, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, phonics, and
phonological awareness with the aim of developing oral language. It was the first time I
had heard of it, and was exposed to it when my associate teacher was informing the new
grade one teacher of this testing technique for her future class next year. This allowed me
to see the paper work, script, resources and talking techniques used when testing a student
and also listen in on the things that you shouldnt do when using this testing on students.
Being exposed and becoming familiar with these types of assessment and testing is great for
the development of my goal setting on assessment that I highlighted as an area that needs
improvement at the start of placement.

Focus
area:
5.1

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Interpretation

Focus
area:
5.1

This event was critical to me because it allowed me to see an important assessment tool/
test that teachers are currently using each year in literacy to drive the development of oral
language. It was interesting to hear how my AT uses the data collected in each test to see
the development of students learning at three key points of the year, the start, middle and
Focus
end. My AT uses the SPAT-R testing at the start of the year to drive the first few weeks
area:
learning intentions and foci for literacy, if students are struggling with onset and rime then
5.3
they focus on that, if students are struggling with Rhyming words then the focus of these
lessons will be to aide students with materials and a range of learning experiences so they
can develop and grow in literacy. I found it useful to see how she explained each section of
the test and how teachers whilst testing use the script. Davidson & Mitchell (2014) state that
teachers need to have access to appropriate English language assessment tools and materials
that can be used not only to identify learners and assess and report on their development.
(p. 55)
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Outcome
From this experience I have gained expertise in assessment strategies, tools and resources
used to test students and their oral language in literacy. Before this placement I had not
heard of Fontas and Pinell, or the SPAT-R testing and now I know why each assessment
strategy is used and how to do it. This means that for my future practice I will be able to
use some of these assessment strategies in the classroom and use this information gathered
from these testing results to drive future lessons. The goals that I can set from this is to
become more familiar with running records and knowing exactly how to use them, and
interpret the information gathered from each students record.
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References
Davison, C., & Michell. (2014). EAL Assessment : What do Australian teachers want?
TESOL in Context; 24 (2) p.51-72 retrieved from
http://search.informit.org.ezproxy2.acu.edu.au/fullText;dn=205574;res=AEIPT

Focus
area:
5.5