Argues that New Hampshire high-stakes test administered at the end of the third grade is flawed and thus should be discontinued because the questions are not only too abstract, but beyond the knowledge and experience of most third graders. (Contains 23 references.) (PKP)

Notes that classroom assessment of literacy is dominated by methods more appropriate to external mandates. Suggests an alternative method grounded in the teacher's professional judgment and in the relations between curriculum, instruction, and assessment. (FL)

Discusses test-taking skills and their application to tests of reading achievement. Presents a rationale for teaching these skills, lists a comprehensive set of skills relevant to standardized reading tests, and offers suggestions for teaching the skills and helping children use them. (FL)

This article discusses (1) assessment of discourse through listening and reading to evaluate comprehension problems; (2) developmental aspects of the relationship between listening and reading comprehension skills; (3) problems with selecting text passages and methods of testing comprehension; and (4) the development of a set of passages and a…

Reviews the 3-R's Test that measures achievement in three academic content areas: reading, language, and mathematics. Cautions that it lacks data supporting its validity and scaling. (HOD)

Although critics persist in attacks on the teaching profession in general and the teaching of reading in particular, both elementary and secondary school reading scores have increased steadily over the past three decades. Even Black and Hispanic students (who still score below the averages for White students tested) have made sizeable gains in…

Reviews research in the areas of reading standards and tests, reading development, dyslexia and specific reading retardation, and reading materials and interests. (FL)

According to the most recent National Adult Literacy Survey, nearly half of Illinois adults lack sufficient reading proficiency to ensure job success and advancement in 21st century workplaces. The Test of Adult Basic Education is currently used as a pretest/posttest in Illinois' existing adult basic education, adult secondary education, and…

This paper presents arguments in favor of adding reading achievement at age seven to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Progress in reading is developmental. At age seven, most children are in the midst of the crucial stage of beginning reading; by age nine, those making normal progress have moved beyond this stage. Much of…

This monograph contains seven articles which focus primarily on formative evaluation for the purpose of furthering the learning of pupils. The articles include: an overview of formative evaluation by Peggy Chnupa; a description of the use of measurement and evaluation as an early screening for entering school children, by Sherrel Marginet and…