Description
Fully understanding text requires close, intelligent reading.
PROBE 2 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.
HOW PROBE2 DIFFERS FROM THE ORIGINAL PROBE
- Forty new, original and challenging stories
- Layout changes (particularly in the manual)
- More comprehensive and user-friendly recording sheet
- Determiner included in the manual (not a separate book)
- More precisely defined taxonomy of question types
- Expanded answer section (one page per text)
- More precise & comprehensive answers to reduce misinterpretation
- Key words with all answers (not a separate book)
- More notes (placed immediately below answers)
- A balance of question types for each text
Like the original PROBE, this new assessment was developed from the ground up, including: writing original stories, creating the question taxonomy and crafting specific questions. The stories are, as much as possible, culturally and geographically unbiased, not compromised by pictures, leading titles or introductions that may interfere with students using the text. The primary purpose is to gather relevant data for teaching purposes.
FOR USE BY
specialists and classroom teachers.
FOR USE WITH
- 7 yr olds to adults – wherever English is being read
- younger students who decode well
- students learning to read English as a second language
SETTING
individual
RATIONALE
- 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 read & understand text
- A good assessment’s results can and should be used to determine teaching
CONTENTS (2-book kit)
- Manual – Guide, Determiner, Answers (with keywords) & Copymasters
- Student Texts – Students’ Guide, Determiner wordlists, Texts with questions
- A Students’ Guide to the PROBE Assessment CD
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
THE UNIQUE FEATURE
Six targeted and defined question types – for a clearer analysis of the reader’s comprehension ability.
LITERAL
Finding information that is given directly in the text.
Answers are found in a single sentence.
REORGANISATION
Reconstructing two or more literal pieces of information contained in the text.
Pieces can be within two adjacent sentences or scattered throughout the text.
INFERENCE
Deducing information not given directly in the text.
‘Simple’ inference – relevant information is not widely scattered.
VOCABULARY
Determining the meaning of unknown words from context
Vocabulary questions can be solved within context.
EVALUATION
Gathering information and drawing inferences
‘Complex’ inference – relevant information is more widely spread.
REACTION
Expressing an opinion based on information given in the text.
The text has to form the basis of that opinion.
OPTIONS
There are four options to choose from:
OPTION 1: Informal Reading Inventory
OPTION 2: Silent Reading Comprehension
OPTION 3: Listening Comprehension
OPTION 4: Written Comprehension (senior/adult readers – used sparingly)
IMPORTANT NOTE:
PROBE is best used one-to-one, especially if a greater insight into reading behaviours is sought. Consequently, Options 1 & 2 are the most common and the most successful in gaining greater insight into how well a student is comprehending what they are reading.
