Evaluating each student's reading ability through the DRA has demonstrated reliability and validity. It also has allowed educators and researchers to identify the key characteristics and behaviors of good readers. The DRA measures the accuracy, fluency and comprehension of most students. The teacher must have adequate skills to comprehend and evaluate each child as an individual. Training is necessary for teachers to be effective and to get optimal results with their students.
Most readers develop reading skills the more they read. There are great advantages in identifying reading obstacles early so that reading enjoyment can be enhanced. A child suffering over reading assignments won't advance as readily as a student that gradually adds challenges as the skills to tackle them are learned. When using the DRA, there is a potential for good reading habits to be formed.
The DRA may possibly be unequally applied to students in ESL, or English as a second language, programs. These students must also translate as they read words that are not in their native language. Length of use of the second language is a factor to consider when evaluating such students. Some languages, such as Chinese, use characters instead of letters and, therefore, bring another factor that may influence proper evaluation. The DRA does come in a Spanish version, but many other languages are not yet available; therefore, it is not the cure-all for illiteracy.
Pearson Education is an international educational publishing company of textbooks and other educational materials. It offers a leveled library collection. A leveled reading system provides more precise, detailed reading levels for books with several levels within a grade level. Each collection fosters independent reading and is organized by DRA level, developmental stage or grade level and includes a variety of fiction and nonfiction titles. Other major publishing companies include Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw-Hill and Scholastic. Captivating the interest of the student is best sought by presenting a wide range of reading choices that can feed the child's reading appetite.