1) Dr. McCallum- your Diagnostic Online Reading Assessment Program just won the Bright Idea Award. Tell us about the award.

        All of us here at Let's Go Learn are honored and excited about the award. Getting this type of award tells us that we are on the right track with DORA and other products we have and are developing.

2) Now tell us about DORA and what it tests and measures?

        In short, DORA is an online informal reading inventory for K-12. DORA is an individualized measure that pulls together information on a range of reading skills and generates a "reading profile" that provides teachers and/or specialists with specific information necessary for designing differentiated or individualized instruction in reading. What's unique about DORA is that the web-based nature of the program provides distinct advantages for teachers. First, the program allows for immediate reporting and archival capabilities. Second, having students access a web-based tool frees the teacher from time consuming assessment while at the same time providing individualized reports.

        DORA was developed to assess what has been called the "cueing system" model of reading, a model that is found in Reading Recovery and the work of Marie Clay, and others.  This model postulates that while reading, readers selectively utilize information from graphophonic, syntactic and semantic "cues" present in the text. This process is driven by reading "strategies" that readers have developed based on experience and their own specific goals for reading.

        The subtests found in DORA are designed to provide information about one or more of the cueing systems. The high frequency words, word recognition, phonics, and phonemic awareness measures all provide information about the graphophonic cueing system. High frequency words assess students' ability to automatically identify 200 common sight words, through a timed test. Word recognition provides a graduated list of words that increase in difficulty and reflect common letter and sound patterns in English. The phonics subtest assesses the common sound patterns in English and those commonly taught in schools and found in primer texts. Phonemic awareness assesses students' ability to manipulate sound patterns in English through blending, segmenting, and deleting sounds.

        The oral vocabulary and reading comprehension subtest provide teachers with information about students' knowledge within the semantic domain. The oral vocabulary measure provides a general gauge of students' familiarity with concepts found in most commercially available reading series.  Reading comprehension measures students' ability to identify factual and inferential information from graduated series of text.

        While DORA can cover a range of important information, it doesn't do everything. Teachers still need to read with their students and assess their fluency – i.e. their ability to strategically draw information from the various cueing systems as they make meaning from text. DORA provides passages for this purpose, but as of yet this aspect of the assessment process is not online.

3) Is this test online, or on a C.D. or is it a paper and pencil measure?

        The seven subtests of DORA are all online. Students at different ages interact with different interfaces (elementary, middle, adult). As soon as the assessment is complete, teachers can access an individualized report of the results. The passages suggested for the fluency measure are to be printed and used off line.

4) What do reading specialists need to know about it?

        Specialists need to know that they can access an assessment tool that will provide them with individualized assessment data that can be used to screen for intervention, to drive instruction, and to anchor discussion about students with other teachers, administrators and parents. The web-based nature of the product allows specialists to assess a group of students in the computer lab all at once, and in an hour have individualized data on all of the students. This data can then provide a starting point for instruction or intervention.

        Specialists will also be interested in the nature of the reports provided by DORA. We're proud of our reports and have made sure to include a variety of information for teachers. In addition to specific information about the subtests (including common miscue or error patterns), teachers can find a link to state standards. Parent reports in English and Spanish are available as well. Teachers can request summary individual reports, a full report (with instructional recommendations), and a class report. As an active database, teachers can sort by subtest or a range of other factors.

5) I understand that DORA measures eight reading sub-skills: high-frequency words, word recognition, phonics, phonemic awareness, oral vocabulary, spelling, reading comprehension, and fluency.  Why did you choose these areas and exactly how does DORA measure each one of these areas?

        The subtest in DORA use three main features for the assessment: sound, graphics (i.e. pictures), and text. A specific subtest may use a combination of these. For example, oral vocabulary has speech (the students hear the target word) and a range of graphics to choose from, one of which best fits the target word. Students use the mouse to click on their choice. Reading comprehension uses text and speech. All of the subtests have oral instructions and guides as students complete practice activities.

6) What kinds of scores does one procure from DORA?

        DORA is a criterion-based measure tied to the notion of grade level equivalency. Scores on specific subtest measures are tied to grade level expectations as determined by common practices in reading and commercially available reading programs.

        But what is more important than an individual subtest score is the nature of the students "profile" of scores. The power of DORA as a diagnostic tool is not in the specific subtests, but rather in the profile created by looking across the subtests (which is the key to the instructional recommendations.) For example, students who are at or above grade level in word recognition and other graphophonic measures, yet below grade level in reading comprehension, have a certain set of needs and issues. On the other hand, a student that is low in graphophonics and low in reading comprehension may require a different intervention.

7) Can DORA be used in place of say, the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test for placement purposes?

        DORA, as an informal reading inventory, would provide initial data on student's abilities, but is not designed to meet the guidelines necessary for placement in Special Education or other programs.

8) Who can administer it and what qualifications are needed?

        DORA, in effect, runs itself once students are logged onto the system. We have had parents get their children started at home, teachers in classrooms, and lab coordinators in computer labs all administer the assessment. The major requirement is knowledge of the technology required for success (logging in, headphones, required hardware and software, bandwidth capability, etc.)

9) Who was it standardized on?

        DORA is standardized in its administration, but as a criterion-based measure there is no norming sample or comparative group.

10) How will it help "struggling readers"?

        One important key to a successful intervention is timely and accurate individualized assessment data. This cannot be confused with benchmark data.While lots of publishers advertise that benchmark data is diagnostic, it actually is not.Benchmark data only looks at a few narrow measures and cannot drive an accurate instructional path for each student.DORA's data, however, will paint a very accurate picture of each student's instructional needs based on each student's abilities across the multiple measures we outlined earlier. This is essential in keeping students motivated and actually helping students learn to read.

11) How will it help the ordinary everyday classroom reader?

        The more we know about students the better position we are in to individualize and differentiate instruction. Also, assessment data can act as a thread that links classrooms, intervention, after school and summer school programs. Coordinating our information and aligning our resources should help everyone.DORA data can be made available to all teachers who may be working with the same students.This allows teachers to collaborate and work together.

12) What question have I neglected to ask?

        You forgot to ask about the end user –what are parents, teachers, specialists and other saying about our tool? Perhaps your follow-up piece might be to interview them to see what they have to say about the match between our design and the needs they have in instruction.

13) If I wanted to see a sample copy or even review it for Buros Mental Measurements Yearbook, would this be possible? Has it been reviewed for Buros?

        I'm sure we can arrange a trial account for your examination. Although we have conducted initial reliability and validity studies, the larger IRT analysis is still being completed and is not ready for publication. When we have that data, I'm more than happy to have the feedback of professionals like yourself.

Published January 22, 2009