Taking Stock on Assessing Tanakh

Aug 6, 2019 By: yunews

Students Present Sterling Research �� Evaluating Students’ Reading Skills The June 2019 conference of the Network in Research in Jewish Education, held in Chicago, featured a very special session. Dr. Scott J. Goldberg, associate professor of education and psychology at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education, convened a panel discussion on the “Development of a Universal Screening Assessment of Tanakh Reading Skills.” However, instead of established academics presenting their current research, as is often the case at conferences like this, the session featured papers produced by �� All students: Joseph Sklar ’19YC, Miriam Motechin ’19S, Ariella Etshalom ’20S, Maury Rosenfeld ’20YC and Isaac Selter ’19YC. (Sklar, Motechin and Etshalom were able to be in Chicago; Rosenfeld and Selter were unable to join them there.) The core task that the papers examined, as Dr. Goldberg described it, was to adapt an established method of reading assessment used for testing English literacy to assessing Tanakh reading skills and making it part of MaDYK (Mivchan Dinami shel Y’cholot Kriah), a suite of universal Hebrew reading assessments that he authored, currently used in Jewish day schools throughout North America, Brazil, and South Africa, and soon in Moscow. Some might not consider this glamorous subject matter, but as each of the students noted, creating such an evaluation and assessment tool is crucial not only to the success of literacy programs through Jewish day schools at every level but to the larger enterprise of maintaining Jewish learning and Jewish heritage.

The students came to this work from varied and different backgrounds, their motivations prompted by a wide range of concerns and passions. For Sklar, who has a double major in computer science and psychology, he wanted to “learn more about how data could be used to maximize formal education,” something that also piqued the interest of Etshalom, who wanted to find out how, “in an experimental way, to ensure that we are not just teaching or implementing educational programs based on a hunch.” Motechin’s studies are rooted in the field of school psychology, which includes academic testing of children, “so I was interested in this research to create a literacy assessment.” Rosenfeld liked investigating the “crossroads of education and psychology,” and after speaking with Dr. Goldberg, “I knew I wanted to be involved” in the research. For Selter, a close friend recommended working with Dr. Goldberg, “and as someone passionate about Tanakh study and Jewish education, I pounced on the opportunity to join his research when he explained to me what it was.”

The goal of their research, according to Sklar, was “to design a standardized assessment to evaluate the Tanakh reading skills of elementary school students to help identify which students need additional assistance to keep up with their grade-level expectations.” To design that assessment tool, as Etshalom described it, “we created a measure to test if students are falling behind in their Tanakh abilities compared to other students at their age or where they should be at their grade and age,” modifying for Tanakh skills a measure called CARI (Content Area Reading Indicators) developed for English readers by Acadience Learning. This presented some novel problems. “An obstacle we faced,” said Rosenfeld, “was that the English testers made up their own material for the assessment, something that we, of course, couldn’t do” because, as Selter pointed out, “when it comes to Tanakh, all of the passages are set in stone.” So, they established a meticulous and thorough process of combing through Tanakh, testing and experimenting with different criteria and types of passages, and “once a passage was chosen,” said Selter, “we were able to create an assessment and pilot it in a local yeshiva elementary school,” or, as Rosenfeld put it, “we hit the front lines and administered the test in the classrooms of some of the finest —and most generous—schools around.”

“We are still in the process of developing the measure,” said Etshalom, “but with the two pilots we did, we already had the chance to test for reliability and validity.” Selter added that their goal “is to find more passages that prove to be indicators of specific reading and comprehension skills.” They all know that they are at the very beginning of this work, but their results demonstrate that they’re on the right track. For all of them, there is a deeper significance to the work, beyond the lessons learned about doing proper research and presenting the findings to the world at an education conference. At the top of the list is ensuring, as Etshalom said, that their work “will hopefully assist teachers in giving that extra attention to the students who need it before they move too far in school that they give up on their own ability to learn Tanakh,” with Rosenfeld adding “our findings can help our children be educated—and tested—in skill-appropriate and effective ways.” In one way or another, their future plans will touch upon the work they did on this project. Etshalom wants to continue the research with Dr. Goldberg and hopes to stay involved in Jewish education and psychology in one way or another, in part because “I was blessed to be able to grow up in a house of educators and people who are very passionate about helping out the Jewish future, and I definitely have that same passion now.” Sklar expressed the same desire to continue the work with Dr. Goldberg. Motechin will be attending St. Johns in the fall to pursue a PsyD in school psychology and “continuing to learn about academic assessment and explore school neuropsychology.”

Rosenfeld’s research focus “remains in the classrooms of our schools,” but he also wants to change the community “to one where mental health is encouraged and not stigmatized, and where helping people is a given.” Selter’s move to Israel “will probably shift my focus from Tanakh education in the U.S to the discipline in Israel.” While in the end he prefers the teaching of Tanakh over the research, “the exposure to this project gave me a deep appreciation to the indispensable behind-the-scenes work done by researchers to ensure the best education for our children.” “Their profound attention to the details of experimental research along with the force of their desire to improve Jewish education, deeply impressed me,” said Dr. Goldberg. “But the qualities they demonstrated are not unique to them—they inhere in every student studying at this University. They are what makes this institution so crucial to Jewish life, and it has been a real privilege to do this work with them.” PAPERS PRESENTED Development of a “Gating” Process and Measures for Assessing the Reading Ability of 4th to 8th grade Tanakh Students

Ariella Etshalom
Meira Motechin
Scott J. Goldberg

The present study documents the process of developing a Tanakh literacy measure (MaDYK CARI Tanakh) modeled after Acadience Reading CARI. This paper will discuss the process of determining predictive abilities of the various measures for 4th – 8th grade students in Jewish day schools. The technical aspects related to measure development will also be presented, including the modifications to the original protocol used for CARI based on the unique characteristics of Tanakh, how the “gates” functioned for screening, and evidence for the reliability and validity of the measures. Tanakh Reading Abilities of 4th – 8th grade Students in Jewish Day Schools

Isaac Selter
Scott J. Goldberg

This study utilized the MaDYK CARI Tanakh assessments as outcome measures. Results will be presented showing the development of reading abilities for 4th – 8th grade across different Jewish day schools. Similarities and differences in student performance, including by grade, relative age, and gender, will be reported. Implications for the development of additional forms of the measures, alternative assessments, and approaches to implementation in schools will be discussed. Use of Decoys in Tanakh Maze Reading Measures: Similar versus Different Parts of Speech

Joseph Sklar
Maury Rosenfeld
Scott J. Goldberg

This paper builds on the development of Tanakh Maze passages to explore the technical psychometric and practical differences and similarities between using decoys that are the same or different part of speech as the original text (correct answer). Implications for the development of additional forms of the measures and other lessons learned will be discussed.

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