S4 E12 - The Secret to Grading Early Years Reading

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In this episode of the Structured Literacy podcast, Jocelyn provides practical guidance for accurately grading early years reading by focusing on Australian Curriculum achievement standards rather than program assessments or benchmark levels. She breaks down Foundation through Year 2 expectations using "I can" statements organised around Scarborough's Reading Rope, demonstrating how to assess both word-level skills (bottom of the rope) through phonics knowledge and text-level comprehension (top of the rope) through text-based units. 

Drawing on research from Hasbrouck-Tindal norms and DIBELS benchmarks to determine appropriate text complexity and reading rates, Jocelyn emphasises that grading should consider not just what students can do but the level of support needed and their ability to transfer skills to new contexts. 

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