Tells how children's performances on informal spelling and writing tasks can be analyzed to develop appropriate instructional activities. Argues that the real utility of assessment procedures comes from the qualitative interpretation that a sensitive diagnostician makes, based on a knowledge of the student and of the process of reading. (AEA)

Discusses several problems associated with standardized testing. Proposes possible solutions to these problems, and calls for a new perspective on testing which utilizes informal tests and teacher observations of reading behavior. (MM)

The results from two informal measures (a cloze test and a group reading inventory and a standardized reading test were compared in a study of instruments available for measuring adult reading performance. The three instruments were administered to 158 undergraduates enrolled in reading improvement classes. From this group, 75 subjects were…

Noting that most classroom teachers use informal reading inventories (IRI) as diagnostic instruments, a study examined what oral reading accuracy level is most appropriate for the instructional level and whether repetitions should be counted as oral reading errors. Randomly selected students from the second through fifth grades at two elementary…

The four sections of this guide provide information for use by educators who wish to find means other than standardized tests for assessing the reading performance of students. The first section of the guide deals with two methods of determining the readability of classroom materials, the Fry Readability Graph and the cloze procedure. The second…

The first part of this report reviews the different types of formal assessment measures that have been used to evaluate the language and literacy performance of second-language learners of English in the United States, including language proficiency tests, reading readiness tests, standardized reading tests, basal reading tests, and statewide…

This book contains a collection of formal and informal reading assessments for use with students in Grades K-8. These assessments assist the teacher in targeting areas of strength and weakness, in monitoring student reading development, and in planning appropriate instruction. The book's assessments (some in both English and Spanish) range from…

A school psychologist describes techniques and approaches to accurately assess students' reading skills and determine what materials and methods should be used for instruction. Among formulas considered for estimating reading expectancy are mental grade and years in school formulas. Research is described which indicates that school psychologists…