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Basic Early Assessment of Reading™ (BEAR®)

Developmentally appropriate for young students.

Designed to assess progress in the development of four essential reading skills (i.e., reading basics, language arts, comprehension, reading fluency), the BEAR is a suite of four criterion-referenced assessments of beginning reading and language arts skills for students in Kindergarten through Grade 3. The four assessments may be used alone or in combination to augment an existing reading program. Each assessment was designed to help provide ongoing information about the development of students' reading skills throughout the course of the year.
BEAR paper-and-pencil assessments are presented in familiar student test booklet format to help alleviate test anxiety. The test booklets are full of engaging illustrations that help make test-taking fun and engaging. The Initial-Skills Analysis, Specific-Skill Analysis, and Summative Assessment can be administered individually, in a small group, or classroom-wide depending on the needs of the students and teacher. The Oral Reading Fluency Assessment is individually administered.

Special Features of the BEAR

  • Content written to measure students' mastery of standards in reading and language arts.
  • Emphasis on skills students need to become successful readers by Grade 3.
  • Suite of four assessments to help teachers customize assessment programs.
  • Variety of item types: multiple-choice, open-ended, and extended-response questions.
  • Developmentally appropriate for young students.

Scoring
The paper-and-pencil BEAR is quickly and easily hand scored by the test administrator or assistant. Scoring Guides are straightforward and provide answer keys, rubrics, sample papers, and interpretive instructions.
Every BEAR Kit includes the BEAR Scoring and Reporting Software, which manages student test data for all four assessments, allows entry and reporting of teacher comments, and generates reports. Additionally, the software allows users to disaggregate data, run queries on customized user-defined fields, and reroster student data while maintaining the students' past assessment history. The BEAR Scoring and Reporting Software also enables you to administer on-screen the Initial-Skills Analysis, Specific-Skill Analysis, and Summative Assessment.
Requirements: Windows® 95, 98, NT® 4.0 Workstation, Me and 2000 operating systems; PC with minimum Pentium® II processor; 64 MB RAM (96 MB recommended); SVGA monitor; 20MB hard disk space (30 MB for larger databases); 5 K per studentrecord

COMPONENTS: Grade-specific Initial-Skills Analysis Administration and Scoring Guide, 25 Initial-Skills Analysis Booklets, Specific-Skill Analysis Administration and Scoring Guide, 3 Specific-Skill Analysis Black-Line Master Test Booklets, Summative Assessment Administration Guide, Summative Assessment Scoring Guide, 25 Summative Assessment Reading Basics Test Booklets, 25 Summative Assessment Comprehension Test Booklets, and 25 Summative Assessment Language Arts Test Booklets; and non-level-specific Teacher's Guide, Oral Reading Fluency Assessment Administration and Scoring Guide, 13 Oral Reading Fluency Assessment Passage Cards, and Scoring and Reporting Software.