Middle Schools Technology Toolbox
Software - D Titles
Documents to Go for AlphaSmart Dana and Palms (not Quick Office)
Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) The Readability Standard (McDevitt/Lorna Hebert only)
DRP tests report students' abilities to read on a scale of text difficulty. Instructional Level DRP Scores refer to the difficulty of materials students can read with 75 percent comprehension or (P=.75). Independent Level DRP Scores refer to the difficulty of materials students can read with 90 percent comprehension or (P=.90).
The typical practice is to use the Instructional Level DRP Score for students in grades 2 through 5, and the Independent Level DRP Score for students in grade 6 and beyond. This is consistent with the expectation that students in the primary and elementary grades typically receive considerable assistance while they are learning to read and that students in the middle and high school grades are expected to do most, if not all, of their reading without assistance.
Nonetheless, there may be instances in the early grades when you may wish to select books for independent level reading (P=.90), and instances in the upper grades when you may wish to select books that you will use with students instructionally (P=.75). For this reason, we have also included instructional level (P=.75) values for every grade and independent values (P=.90) for every grade (with the exception of grades 2 and 3). When selecting which value, or score, to use keep in mind your, or the student's, purpose for reading (e.g., will the student be receiving assistance, or some kind of instructional support, then P=.75; will the student be reading the book on his or her own, then P=.90) and the general motivational level of the student.