PROBE GREY

PROBE GREY Reading Comprehension Assessment
a companion to PROBE BLUE
Chris Parkin, Catherine Parkin & Barnaby Parkin

© Triune Initiatives 2022

2-book kit
Book 1: Manual with copymasters
Book 2: Student Texts 

RATIONALE
Fully understanding text requires close, intelligent reading.
For many readers understanding doesn't come easy.
Even the seemingly best readers have some difficulties.
We need in-depth data about a student's ability to understand text.
An assessment's results should be used to help determine teaching.

PURPOSE
PROBE is primarily designed to be a controlled in-depth interview
to help teachers achieve a greater understanding of:
• how readers engage with text
• what specific teaching is required.

LANGUAGE FEATURES

To reduce bias and enable the assessor to more accurately evaluate the reader’s ability to draw on the information contained in the texts, they are, as much as possible: written in Standard International English and culturally and geographically non-specific. As this is an assessment of a reader’s ability to decode and comprehend text, there are no pictures and limited title clues

2-BOOK KIT

FOR USE BY
specialists and classroom teachers.

FOR USE WITH
•  7 year-olds to adults - wherever English is being read.
•  younger students who decode well.
•  students learning to read English as a second language.

SETTING
Individual

CONTENTS
BOOK 1 Manual 

Guide, Determiner, Answers (with keywords) & Copymasters
Probe Students' Guide available free online.
Access Guide through the members' page.

BOOK 2 Student Texts 
Students' Guide, Determiner wordlists, texts with questions

KEY FEATURES
•  Forty original texts (no extracts or retold stories)
•  Twenty levels (5 to 15.5 years with 6 month overlaps)
•  Fiction and non-fiction at every level
•  No pictures & minimal title clues (for testing text only)
•  Culturally & geographically non-specific texts
•  Standard International English
•  Targeted, defined comprehension questions

UNIQUE FEATURE
Six targeted and defined question types -
for a clearer analysis of the reader’s comprehension ability.

LITERAL
DEFINITION: Finding information that is given directly in the text.
FEATURES: Answers are found in a single sentence.

REORGANISATION
DEFINITION: Reconstructing two or more literal pieces of information
contained in the text.
FEATURES: Pieces can be within two adjacent sentences or scattered throughout the text. Reorganisation could be regarded as complex literal.

INFERENCE
DEFINITION: Deducing information not given directly in the text.
FEATURES: Can be regarded as simple inference

VOCABULARY
DEFINITION: Determining the meaning of unknown words from context.
FEATURES: 2+ sentences from the text are required to answer most questions

EVALUATION
DEFINITION: Gathering information and drawing inferences.
FEATURES: Can be regarded as complex inference

REACTION
DEFINITION: Expressing an opinion based on the information given in the text.
FEATURES: The text has to form the basis of that opinion.

These 6 questions form the PROBE QUESTION TAXONOMY.

This taxonomy is an important part of the ONLINE PROBE COURSE

OPTIONS
There are 3 options to choose from:
OPTION 1: Informal Reading Inventory
OPTION 2: Silent Reading Comprehension
OPTION 3: Listening Comprehension

OPTION 4: Written Comprehension

*Triune Initiatives no longer supports this option

GREY SAMPLE PAGES

TEACHER TESTING STUDENT

PROBE is designed
to be used one-to-one
to give greater insight
into reading behaviours

PROBE & KEY SERIES

The KEY comprehension series is directly related to PROBE question types: reorganisation, inference, evaluation & reaction.

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