This document contains samples and explanations from Colorado's state reading and writing comprehension test for Grade 4, hereby released to the public (parents, teachers, and any other interested parties). It presents one reading comprehension item, the scoring guide for that item, and 6 different student responses, with the scores they received.…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress' (NAEP) 1992 reading assessment was administered to nationally representative samples of 4th-, 8th- and 12-grade students attending public and private schools, and to state representative public-school samples of 4th graders in 43 jurisdictions. In Colorado, 2,897 fourth-grade students in 122 public…

In 1990, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) included a Trial State Assessment (TSA); for the first time in NAEP's history, voluntary state-by-state assessments were made. In 1994, TSA was expanded to include non-public school students. The 1994 reading assessment considered students' proficiency in situations that involved…

Common instructional practices in the teaching of language minority students are described. The case study of a fourth grade classroom in Longmont (Colorado) illustrates how a teacher's enthusiasm for literacy instruction creates an environment where all students, including the Hispanic language minority, can be active participants. (SLD)