DRA

DRA is an acronym that stands for Developmental Reading Assessment. Published by Pearson, the DRA is a standardized assessment for measuring children’s accuracy, fluency, and reading comprehension. Designed to provide classroom teachers with information about children’s reading levels and abilities, this assessment is modeled after an informal reading inventory whereby teachers conduct individual reading conferences. At the time of the assessment, a child is asked to read a portion of a passage aloud, complete reading in his head, and then afterward, answer a series of questions related to the text. Data gathered during this assessment is intended to provide teachers a way to measure student progress over time as well as to inform the direction of classroom instruction.