Describes the uses and limitations of the revised Reading Evaluation Adult Diagnosis test. (HOD)

Cautions that criterion referenced tests are no more effective at diagnosing comprehension subskills than are traditional instruments, and they may lend false credibility to the subskill approach to comprehension. (AEA)

High-stakes testing means that one test is used to make important decisions about students, teachers, and schools. This paper comes out against high-stakes testing, taking the position that the central concern is that testing has become a means of controlling instruction as opposed to a way of gathering information to help students become better…

Argues that giving students a reading test that is above or below their levels of achievement will yield inaccurate information. (FL)

Explores what is meant by reading, noting that to read is to respond appropriately to a specific consensus centered on certain values and that the consensus is achieved among persons whose paths through life have come together with members of dominant discourses in society. (SLD)

Presents critical analysis of an earlier article, and argues that, although the validity of the High/Low distinction is questionable, it is possible for practical testing purposes to obtain reliable judgments from properly selected and trained judges. (seven references) (GLR)

Summarizes educators' and researchers' concerns regarding the use and misuse of standardized reading tests. Suggests a different model for reading assessment. (RS)

Discusses the move from whole language to phonics instruction in Los Angeles schools in an effort to rescue plummeting reading scores. (Author/VWL)

Offers an argument against increased emphasis on testing, claiming that reading and writing can never be tested because the conception of reading and writing inherent in tests is faulty. Suggests alternatives that are congruent with a more adequate conception of reading and writing. (SR)

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)

Points out that children's growth in response to literature is not assessed by existing standardized tests or by progress from one textbook to another. Suggests guidelines for teacher observation of children's responses and provides a checklist for assessing oral and written reactions. (FL)

Points out that sound assessment programs should (1) be a part of instruction, (2) use varied methods and instruments, (3) focus on a broad range of skills and knowledge, (4) occur continuously, (5) occur in a variety of contexts, and (6) be appropriate for age and level of development. Offers examples of practices based on these points. (FL)

Examines studies of literacy instruction in American schools during the past 10 years both in terms of the notions that guide current practice and in terms of recent conceptions of literacy. Concludes that current literacy instruction limits students. Proposes an alternative view of instruction grounded in the concept of instructional scaffolding.…

Reviews the Spadafore Diagnostic Reading Test, which is used to determine decoding and reading comprehension levels and to give detailed diagnostic information. Concludes that it is not an improvement on similar inventories published previously. (HOD)

This paper states that today's newspaper and educational journal articles complain that only half the school population can read on grade level. Yet standardized tests are written to spread pupils out from the first to the 99th percentile, or from three or more standard deviations above to three or more standard deviations below the mean.…