Explanation and Description of ERAS

Seeing that, the students attitude toward reading is a central factor affecting reading
performance (McKenna & Dennis, 1990), the ERAS was created to measure students attitude
toward reading. The Elementary Reading Assessment Survey or ERAS is a survey that provides
quantitative estimates of a students attitude toward reading. This instrument can be used for
speculating initial attitudes of specific students, create a group profile of a class, and can monitor
the impacts of the implemented instructional programs. The survey can be given individually or
to an entire class in a matter of minutes. It is composed of twenty questions. This survey is
measured by the Garfield that the student circles. The happiest Garfield is worth four points,
three points for the slightly smiling Garfield, two points for the slightly upset Garfield, and one
point for the upset Garfield on the far right. After the survey is administered, three scores will be
counted. The first ten questions will be added together to create a score and the last ten questions
will be added together to create another score. After both scores are added, there is a total score
that is composited of all 20 questions. The first half of the survey relates to recreational reading
and the second half relates to academic reading.
Overview of ERAS administration
When administering the ERAS, Blake and I were relaxed and calm. The setting in which the
assessment took place was in the back of the classroom while the students were picking new
books from the class library. I asked that Blake goes first to pick books so that I may administer
the survey without taking away from his education. Blake enjoyed the getting to do something
that the other students couldnt do. I was able to explain that the purpose of this survey about

wanting to see if he enjoyed reading. He said ok and I explained to him the meaning and
purpose of the different Garfields. Blake was not aware of whom Garfield was but he
understood that I was going to circle the Garfield with the expression that matched his answer to
the question. I took the advice that was suggested in class by simplifying the survey to give my
student a better understanding. The choices were, I love it for the happy Garfield, I like it for the
slightly less happy Garfield, I dont like it for the mildly upset Garfield, or I hate it for the upset
Garfield. The last two questions on the survey were omitted because my student did not know
what a dictionary was nor has he taken any reading tests. Since Blake is in Kindergarten, he
cannot read the questions or take the assessment on his own. As a result, I orally gave the
assessment and he would respond with one of the Garfield choices. I would repeat or rephrase
questions if he didnt understand. For example, I had to remind him what worksheets and
workbook pages were because he forgot.
Summary of Results
The survey is broken down into three scores; the recreational score followed by the academic
score than the composite score. Blakes raw score for recreational reading is thirty points
whereas the raw score for academic reading is twenty-five. As shown through the results, Blake
scored higher with recreational reading. However, two of the questions from the academic
reading portion were omitted so we can assume that academic reading would be closer to
recreational. Both portions of the assessment would create a full raw score of fifty-five points.
The difference of the scores can suggest that Blake has a stronger attitude for recreational
reading. Interpreting the scores can be done in two ways. The first is to informally note where the
score falls on the scale and the second involves converting the score into percentiles. Since Blake

is in Kindergarten, percentiles for his grade are not given. When reviewing the survey, the only
time Blake chose the upset Garfield was on the question referring to reading instead of playing.
There were three other questions that Blake chose a mildly upset Garfield and those questions
referred to reading on a rainy Saturday, reading during summer vacation, and reading aloud in
class. During an interview with Blake, he told me that he likes to play outside a lot which would
correlate to his answer of playing rather than reading. For the most part, Blake shows to be a
positive reader for both recreational and academic reading. Since Blakes academic score is
lower, instruction for growth could be implemented.
Instructional Decisions
Blake already demonstrates his positive attitude toward recreational reading but since Blake has
a lower attitude score for academic reading a good way to increase this score would be exposure
to a variety of texts. In the school, the students pick four new books every week, however, the
variety of books are minimal. To have successful independent reading, it is crucial that students
choose their own reading materials and have plenty of materials to choose from, (Cunningham
& Allinton, 21). Blake enjoys reading about book related to science so providing variety or
books may expose him to different literature. Another instructional strategy that I would
implement would be more read alouds. The majority of students responded that teachers reading
aloud to the class was what got them interested in reading (Cunningham & Allinton, p. 14).
Reading aloud different texts like fiction and fact can expose students to various texts as well by
demonstrating to students that all kinds of books are cherished and acceptable. This can correlate
with another instructional strategy on reading quality text with rich language cause, Reading
aloud matters to motivation, and what you read aloud may really matter to your struggling

readers (Cunningham & Allinton, p. 16). Another strategy to implement is having students
engage in conversation with their peers about books they are reading. In fact, providing time
for children to interact with one another about reading material enhanced the effects of sustained
silent reading on both reading achievement and attitudes (Cunningham & Allinton, 24).
Reflection
Since my student is in Kindergarten, it is difficult to determine if the results from the assessment
were beneficial. There are many outliers that are present that could interfere with the validity of
the survey. An example would be that my student is still in the beginning stages of reading. He
reads simple sentences that are repetitive so that he may learn the fundamentals of reading such
as touching each word he says, and identify sounds to the letter in the next word. For this reason,
it is difficult to determine if he enjoys reading when he isnt reading for comprehension.
However, I believe that he does enjoy the idea of reading. Most of the information and
understanding I received about my student came from observations and reading with him from
independent reading. When observing my student in class, he is very interested and excited to
read during independent reading time. He told me that he enjoys reading and that he reads a lot at
home. Another flaw with this survey is that it is typically administered to students older than
Blake between the grade levels of first through sixth grade which resulted in the omission of two
questions in the survey. Overall, I was able to benefit from administering the ERAS. I was able
to learn how to administer as well as interpret and analyze the data received from the survey.
With the data, I was able to make instructional strategies to improve Blakes attitude which could
improve his literacy growth. With the experience and knowledge learned, I am better equipped at

administering this assessment and will be able to properly assess in the future with other
students.