When students struggle with reading, school-based teams seek more information about why those students are struggling in order to provide instruction that will meet the students' needs. This process occurs for students needing Tier 2 or 3 instruction and students with disabilities who have reading goals. Reading specialists, special education…

To help teachers, policy analysts, and others understand the 1994 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Assessment in Reading, this journal issue presents the objectives and examples of how students in grades 4, 8, and 12 will be assessed. The issue discusses NAEP's view of reading; key features of the assessment; reading purposes;…

Describes how a microcomputer with a word processing program can be used efficiently to generate cloze tests, offering teachers an effective method of producing individualized materials for reading and language arts instruction. Examples of grammar worksheets focusing on proper nouns and adjectives, adjectives and adverbs, and plural words are…

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)

Describes a program to assess the reading skills of deaf elementary school students, focusing on four concerns: areas and abilities to be assessed, sources of information, record keeping, and use of evaluation information to guide instruction. The assessment materials are available free of charge in exchange for feedback about their usefulness.…

This article describes recent efforts to develop a reading diagnostic analysis to be used in conjunction with curriculum-based measurement for informing teachers how to refocus their instruction to address individual needs. A detailed example with data charts and student reports shows application in one second grade class. (Contains references.)…

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…

A curriculum-based measurement approach to evaluating and improving oral reading fluency (ORF) in grades 2-5 is presented. A table of norms (medians) in ORF is provided, based on approximately 9,000 students. Specific classroom uses of the norms are suggested, such as use in developing individualized objectives for students with disabilities. (DB)

The second edition of this British publication provides details of recent developments in the assessment of reading attainments and the analysis of reading processes. The book begins with a description of various types of reading tests and assessment techniques with consideration given to the purposes for which normative, criterion-referenced, and…

This bulletin presents a description of the general education subtests of the Florida Teacher Certification Examination. Information is provided on: (1) competencies and skills tested in the reading subtest; (2) general subtest and item specifications of the writing tests--methods used in evaluating writing ability and rating rationales for…

Among techniques which can be used by foreign language teachers to help learners use multiple-choice tests (after reading a text) to become better readers are: have students attempt to answer questions before reading the text; rearrange the order of the questions; and have students make up multiple choice questions. (CB)

The Testing Center at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) in North Carolina, Educational Testing Service, and the College Board are participating jointly in pilot and field testing Computerized Placement Tests (CPTs). CPTs, which assess communications, reading, and mathematics skills, have the following benefits: (1) students may take the…

In 1972, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia instituted the Regents' Testing Program (RTP) to provide systemwide information on the status of student competence in reading and writing and to provide a uniform means of identifying those students who fail to attain minimum levels of competence in these areas. Since 1972, some…

Fulfilling a need for careful and thorough synthesis of an extensive body of findings on reading, this report presents leading experts' interpretations of both current knowledge of reading and the state of the art and practice of teaching reading. The introduction contains two claims: (1) the knowledge is now available to make worthwhile…

Of the four language skills, reading is probably tested most often, and it may seem to be the easiest to test. However, testing reading proficiency has its difficulties, and the test constructor must be aware of several issues. Reading involves a number of skills, and the number and complexity of these must be recognized. Choosing the text to test…