- Reading assessment provides vital information to teachers and parents about a child's ability to perform many skills that are essential for judging proficiency and comprehenson. Teachers should use several assessment techniques, including informal observation and formal, standardized tests. If given frequently, these tests keep teachers updated about their students' current progress and help them diagnose potential reading difficulties that can be addressed immediately.
- Phonics tests are important in measuring early reading skills like letter naming and decoding. Formal assessments like Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) offer short tests that gauge a child's ability to recognize the alphabet, identify sounds that the letters make and decode sounds to blend words. Proficiency in these skills enables students to achieve fluency, which reinforces comprehension, one of the primary reasons for reading.
- Teachers need to assess their students often for oral reading progress. These tests are usually timed, from one to three minutes. Students read an unfamiliar passage while the teacher monitors and notes any words that were called out incorrectly. Teachers calculate the score for words per minute (WPM) and compare this number to the benchmark score for kids at comparable levels to be sure each child is making satisfactory progress.
- Comprehension is assessed in several ways. The teacher can judge through observation during guided reading instruction and by the responses that students give to questions on tests based on books or stories they have read. Standardized tests like the Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) require students to read short passages, and then provide oral responses to questions the teacher reads from the testing material. These prompts usually focus on story elements like characters, plot and setting, but also look for skills like inferring and predicting.
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