Reviews the fifth edition of the Classroom Reading Inventory (CRI), which contains four forms of the inventory and two graded spelling surveys. Concludes that although there are problems in the fifth edition, there is much that is good, especially the helpful hints section for the novice examiner. (SKC)

Examines the validity of estimates of instructional reading level produced by the Reading Comprehension Test of the 1986 Metropolitan Achievement Tests (MAT). Compares reading level estimates provided by the MAT, basal reader placement tests, an informal reading inventory, and classroom teachers' judgments. Suggests that each method, because of…