New test launched to boost primary reading and comprehension: The York Assessment of Reading for Comprehension5 March 2009 - GL Assessment has unveiled a new suite of standardised, paper-based reading assessments for use in primary schools. The York Assessment of Reading for Comprehension (YARC) is designed to support schools in monitoring children’s development of key literacy skills from ages four to 11. Developed in partnership with experts in reading at the University of York, the assessments enable teachers to assess young readers’ phonic and alphabetic skills and track the progress of children’s reading and reading comprehension across the primary years. The YARC assessments concentrate on reading for meaning, enabling teachers and SENCOs to regularly assess pupils’ reading skills and understanding of what they are reading to boost achievement in literacy. In addition to the reading passages for pupils aged five to 11, YARC also includes four short tests specifically designed for four to six year olds. YARC Early Reading is designed to help teachers assess their pupils’ phoneme awareness, letter recognition and early decoding skills. This enables schools to highlight issues early so that suitable learning support can be provided to children who are struggling with learning to read. Sue Thompson, Publisher at GL Assessment, says: “A child’s ability to identify the individual sounds in a word is essential to their progress in learning to read but some children are unable to hear a sound and relate it to what is printed on a page. This can make it hard for them to progress in reading. The Government wants schools to place phonics and reading comprehension at the heart of their strategy for teaching literacy. The YARC assessments will help teachers uncover problems quickly and enable them to intervene early so that children can become happy and confident readers.” The YARC Passage Reading series includes two age-appropriate texts for each pupil year group. A set of eight questions of increasing complexity follows each passage and these can be used to assess and track pupils’ reading comprehension from Reception (P1) to Year 6 (P7). The passages are specifically designed to measure the speed and accuracy of a child’s reading, as well as their ability to understand what they have read, all important factors in raising attainment in literacy. Each test takes a maximum of 15 minutes to complete and will provide teachers with information on a child’s age standard scores, as well as reading age for accuracy, rate and comprehension. A version of GL Assessment’s Single Word Reading Test is also included in the series, which can be used to benchmark pupils’ progress. Dr Sue Stothard, Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Reading and Language, University of York, will give a presentation on YARC at the Education Show 2009 (11am, Friday 27 March, stand SN-F50). - ends -
Notes to the editor
About GL Assessment GL Assessment is the UK’s leading independent provider of tests and assessment services for education. It publishes across the 4 -19 age range, with the majority of its assessments designed for 5-14 year-olds. For further information, please contact Danielle Morgan PR and Events Manager, Granada Learning Tel: 020 8996 3632 Email: danielle.morgan@gl-assessment.co.uk
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