In this article, I focus on three areas of reading assessment that I believe to be crucial for students' reading development: developing comprehensive formative assessments, assessing the wide array of factors that contribute to students' reading development, and fostering student independence by helping students learn to use reading assessment on…

The disparity between the results of state accountability tests in reading and the fourth-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has left many educators dismayed and concerned. In this article the authors describe a comparison of assessment approaches evident in NAEP to the approaches taken in a sample of state tests. The authors…

Provides a rationale for why literacy assessment is in need of improvement. Presents guidelines for improving literacy assessment. Describes a model for implementing changes in literacy assessment. (MG)

Reviews information about three major dimensions along which phonics measures vary: (1) group v individual administration, (2) production response (say or write) v recognition response, and (3) the stimuli or materials used to evaluate phonics. (HOD)

Reviews the assessment systems which accompany three of the most recently published and widely used basal reading programs. Examines the materials designed for the second half of second grade and for fifth grade. (PRA)

Computer-based technologies offer promise as a means to assess students and provide teachers with better understandings of their students' achievement. This article describes recent developments in computer-based and web-based reading and literacy assessment, focusing on assessment administration, information management, and report creation. In…

Discusses several new educational assessment procedures implemented in Illinois and Michigan school districts. (MM)

What can teachers do in their classrooms to help students prepare for a high-stakes, standardized, multiple-choice reading test without sacrificing what they know to be best practice? Decreasing class sizes or other solutions that require substantial changes in school finance are not usually realistic options. This article outlines five…

Reviews the recently released Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, Third Edition. Identifies the test as one which is widely used by school systems to measure students' reading progress in instructional settings. (MG)

Argues that process-oriented evaluation of children's literacy by the classroom teacher is more efficient and more instructionally valid than current test-driven evaluation procedures. (FL)

Summarizes key findings from five studies investigating how features of test questions (question format, testing condition, and question type) affect reading comprehension assessment outcomes. Discusses implications for assessment design and instructional practice. (MM)

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)