Understanding and Using Reading Assessment, K-12

Peter Afflerbach

• Publisher: ASCD
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781416625018
• eBook ISBN: 9781416625049
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Teaching Methods for Reading

Why do we assess reading? What do we assess when we assess reading? How, where, and when do we assess reading? Reading instruction and assessment expert Peter Afflerbach addresses these questions and much more in the 3rd edition of Understanding and Using Reading Assessment, K–12.

Using the CURRV model to evaluate reading assessment methods—including reading inventories, teacher questioning, performance assessment, and high-stakes reading tests—Afflerbach considers the consequences and usefulness of each method, the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders, and the reliability and validity of the assessments. In addition, he examines four important but often overlooked aspects of reading assessment:

• Assessment accommodation for English-language learners and students with special needs
• Assessment of noncognitive aspects of reading, such as motivation, engagement, self-concept, and self-efficacy
• The use of formative and summative assessment
• The importance of self-assessment in building reading independence

The book provides detailed case studies from all grade levels to illustrate reading assessment done well. It also includes 15 reproducible forms and checklists that teachers and administrators can use to optimize their reading assessment efforts.

Students are expected to read increasingly complex texts and to complete increasingly complex reading-related tasks to demonstrate their growth as readers. This book offers teachers and administrators alike a clear path to helping students meet those expectations.

This book is a co-publication of ASCD and ILA.

New to the 3rd edition:

• New chapter "Formative and Summative Assessment"
• Three significantly revised chapters—Performance Assessment; Assessment Accommodation for English Learners and Students With Special Needs ("Accommodation and Reading Assessment" in 2nd edition); Assessing "the Other" Important Noncognitive Aspects of Reading
• Fifteen reproducible and downloadable forms and checklists

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Chapter 1

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Important Issues and Concepts in Reading Assessment

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Three Key Questions

As we strive to understand and use reading assessment, it is important to consider three questions. First, why do we assess reading? All reading assessment should be conducted with the purpose of helping students achieve in reading. Second, what do we assess when we assess reading? Asking this question allows us to focus on reading program goals and outcomes and what we hope for our students as we teach and support their reading development. Third, how, where, and when do we assess reading? This query anticipates the array of reading assessment materials and procedures that are examined throughout this book in individual chapters.

Why Do We Assess Reading?

Reading assessment helps us understand the strengths and needs of each of our students. Although all reading assessments should share this purpose, the manner in which individual assessments provide information and the manner in which we use the particular assessment information are varied. Consider the different formative and summative purposes for assessment that are demonstrated in the following scenarios (noting that all teacher and student names are pseudonyms).

Hannah, a 3rd grade teacher, uses a reading inventory to gather detailed information about a student's oral reading strategies and skills. The reading inventory provides information for her ongoing analysis of student reading. Hannah determines that the student reads with high confidence but also reads through sentence boundaries. The student does not reread after obvious meaning-changing miscues. Hannah uses this new assessment information to update her understanding of the student and determines that the student needs to concentrate on developing self-awareness in general, and comprehension-monitoring strategies in particular. She uses the assessment information in the next day's instruction, the goal of which is to encourage the student to regularly monitor the meaning-making process that is reading. Using think-alouds, Hannah models the types of questions that good readers ask themselves as they read, including, Why am I reading? and Does that make sense? In this case, the answer to the question of why we assess reading is that it provides detailed and timely information that is used by a talented teacher to shape instruction to the student's needs.

Late in the school year, Hannah administers a statewide high-stakes reading test. The test provides information on students' reading strategies and skills. Results of this test may be used for several purposes. The mean student scores, derived from multiple-choice and short fill-in items, will be used to determine if the school meets federally mandated levels of adequate yearly progress in students' reading achievement. The test results are considered by some to be a measure of accountability, helping to determine if teachers, schools, and school districts are working successfully to help students develop as readers and meet state standards in reading. The results of this test are also reported at the individual student level, and parents receive their children's raw scores and percentile rankings in vocabulary knowledge and literal and inferential comprehension. Thus, test results inform parents of their children's general reading achievement levels.

In each of the preceding scenarios, reading assessment is conducted for specific purposes and specific audiences. One assessment is more direct: the classroom teacher (Hannah) is accomplished at using the reading inventory to understand the nature of a student's reading, how it relates to a model of highly efficient reading, and how it anticipates the instruction and learning that the teacher plans for the student. The process orientation of the reading inventory provides a window into the reading strategies and skills that the student uses or needs. The reading assessment information is immediate and fleeting, and the teacher knows how to focus on and interpret the information that the reading inventory produces. The teacher's knowledge of the nature of students' self-monitoring of reading is matched by her ability to use the reading inventory to provide information related to this important instructional goal.

In contrast, the end-of-year test is composed of items that describe the students' vocabulary knowledge and text comprehension. The results of this test focus on reading comprehension products. The results signal that a certain percentage of students meet state and federal reading benchmarks, and communicate to particular audiences that the teaching of reading in the district is going well and that taxpayers' money has been well spent.

Throughout this book, the question of why we assess reading frames our consideration of the diverse purposes for assessing reading. These purposes include determining students' reading development, informing instruction, demonstrating teacher and school accountability, describing a reading program's strengths and weaknesses, motivating and encouraging students, and teaching students how to self-assess. Representative purposes for reading assessment and the audiences that use assessment information are presented in Figure 1.1. If you are interested in an accounting of the different assessment audiences and purposes in your school or district, you can use the form "Reading Assessment Inventory: Audiences and Purposes" in the Appendix.

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Figure 1.1. Representative Audiences and Purposes for Reading Assessment

Assessment Audience: Students
Assessment Purpose:

To report on learning and communicate progress

To motivate and encourage

To learn about assessment and how to self-assess

To build independence in reading

* * *

Assessment Audience: Teachers
Assessment Purpose:

To determine the nature of student learning

To inform instruction

To evaluate students and construct grades

To diagnose students' strengths and weaknesses in reading

* * *

Assessment Audience: School administrators
Assessment Purpose:

To determine reading program effectiveness

To prove school and teacher accountability

To determine resource allocation

To support teachers' professional development

* * *

Assessment Audience: Parents
Assessment Purpose:

To be informed about children's achievements

To help connect home efforts with school efforts to support children's reading development

* * *

Assessment Audience: Politicians
Assessment Purpose:

To establish accountability of schools

To inform the public of school progress

* * *

Assessment Audience: Taxpayers
Assessment Purpose:

To demonstrate that tax dollars are well spent

Source: Modified from Understanding and Using Reading Assessment, K–12 (p. 6), by P. Afflerbach, 2007, Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Copyright 2007 by the International Reading Association.

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The question of why we assess reading is answered in different ways because reading instruction and reading assessment are influenced by the larger society in which students, teachers, administrators, and schools work. Consider that diverse theories and bodies of research inform the successful teaching and learning of reading. These theories emanate from domains of knowledge that include cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, linguistics, pedagogy, sociology, anthropology, critical race theory, and critical theory. Each theory may suggest different priorities for reading instruction and reading assessment; these different priorities will signal different purposes for reading assessment. For example, research on reading strategies describes their importance for constructing meaning, whereas research on motivation provides evidence of the need to engage students as they develop into independent, committed readers (Afflerbach, Pearson, & Paris, 2008; Guthrie & Klauda, 2016). A successful reading program has varied, important outcomes that should include students' growth in the ability to use reading strategies and skills as well as students' increased motivation to read. Reading assessment must have strong connections to these outcomes and describe them well.

The assessment of reading takes place in a context that is influenced by social and political forces. There are assessment practices that may be favored politically, practiced locally, supported broadly, or questioned widely. Legislators, taxpayers, parents, school administrators, teachers, and students may all legitimately claim that we assess reading in part to provide useful information. However, the meaning of "useful information" varies, from the parent seeking assessment information that will help coordinate classroom and home reading efforts, to the legislator seeking districtwide reading assessment information in anticipation of an upcoming vote for school funding, to the administrator interested in documenting reading program effectiveness. In these contexts, each purpose for reading assessment must have the potential result of the betterment of student reading. Ideally, one group's need for particular reading assessment information should not displace another group's need. The goal of improving the teaching and learning of reading should help us determine our reading assessment priorities in all cases.

What Do We Assess When We Assess Reading?—The Focus of Assessment

Asking what we assess helps us focus on the goals of the reading instruction program and the relationship of reading instruction to reading assessment. The answer may demonstrate that our conceptualization of reading achievement, as reflected in the reading assessments used, is broad or narrow. The answer may help us determine whether the diverse goals of reading instruction are adequately reflected in the regimen of assessments that is intended to measure progress toward those goals. Or the answer may indicate that, whereas school district standards and the curriculum conceptualize reading development broadly, reading assessment measures it narrowly. We should plan to assess what we plan to teach.

Effective instruction contributes to the development of students' reading strategies and skills, motivation, and commitment to reading. Effective instruction can broaden students' conceptualization of reading as contributing to success in life. Given the characteristics of successful readers, the array of reasons for reading, and the diverse outcomes of successful reading instruction, should we expect reading assessment to be similarly broad? Does our assessment describe the many beneficial outcomes of becoming a better reader? How are the outcomes of reading instruction weighted in relation to the assessment that is conducted in states, districts, schools, and classrooms? An examination of widely used reading assessments reveals clear gaps between the rhetoric of the important outcomes of learning to read and what is assessed.

Most reading assessments focus narrowly on one set of important reading outcomes: the cognitive strategies and skills of reading. We are familiar with these outcomes because of our experiences with them in school as teachers and former students. Phonemic awareness, phonics, sight-word recognition, and fluency (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000), as well as vocabulary knowledge (Stahl & Bravo, 2010) and literal and inferential comprehension (Snow, 2002), contribute to reading success. Although these are important elements of successful student reading, they do not fully represent the growth and development that students experience in exemplary reading programs (Afflerbach, Cho, Kim, & Clark, 2010). Related, few reading assessments measure changes in or maintenance of student motivation to read or the range of students' social uses of reading. Many reading assessments sample a small portion of student accomplishment and growth—and by implication, teacher and school success. Bracey (2001) notes that standardized tests regularly miss the following outcomes of effective teaching and student learning: "creativity, critical thinking, resilience, motivation, persistence, humor, reliability, enthusiasm, civic-mindedness, self-awareness, self-discipline, empathy, leadership, and compassion" (p. 158). If we want reading assessment to mirror students' accomplishments, we must avoid reading assessment practice that provides, at best, only a partial reflection of those accomplishments.

The question of what we assess when we assess reading must be asked because it can help us become better at assessment. This question helps us prioritize our reading instruction goals and focus on the most appropriate assessment materials and procedures. Schools use an array of assessments conducted across the school year, from reading inventories at the beginning of the year to standardized, norm-referenced tests at the end of the year. An accounting is necessary to optimize this variety of assessments that are intended to serve different audiences and purposes. Our reading assessments include those mandated by the district, the state, and the federal government and those selected by teachers and administrators in schools. An assessment inventory can help us better understand the relationship between the things that a school community values in relation to students' reading development and what is actually assessed. A sample reading assessment inventory, which may be used to investigate the variety, breadth, and focus of assessment, is presented in Figure 1.2. A reading assessment inventory allows us to rank assessment in terms of the match between our teaching and learning priorities and time demands. An assessment inventory helps us compare what is with what could be. This information may be used to create and enact an action plan with the goal of achieving better alignment among valued and agreed-upon outcomes of reading instruction, what is taught, and what is assessed. If you are interested in an accounting of the different assessments you use and the focus of these assessments in your school or district, you can use the form "Reading Assessment Inventory: What Is Assessed?" in the Appendix.

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Figure 1.2. A Sample Reading Assessment Inventory

Note: This figure has been reformatted for more accessible reading in this e-book format. View the original figure image.

For each of the six reading purposes, the types of reading assessments that have a demonstrated ability to serve the indicated purpose are listed. The assessment options are: tests and quizzes, portfolios, performance assessments, teacher questions, reading inventories, and teacher observations.

Assessment is a measure of students' …

1. Cognitive Reading Strategies and Skills: tests and quizzes, portfolios, performance assessments, teacher questions, reading inventories, teacher observations
2. Motivation for Reading: portfolios, teacher questions, teacher observations
3. Social Uses of Reading: portfolios, performance assessments, teacher questions, teacher observations
4. Independence in Reading: portfolios, performance assessments, teacher observations
5. Reading in Collaborative Learning Environments: portfolios, performance assessments, teacher questions, teacher observations
6. Choosing Reading Over Attractive Alternatives: portfolios, teacher questions, teacher observations

Source: Adapted rom Understanding and Using Reading Assessment, K–12 (p. 9), by P. Afflerbach, 2007, Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Copyright 2007 by the International Reading Association

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How, Where, and When Do We Assess Reading?

The determination of why we assess and what we assess must be followed by informed decisions of how best to examine and evaluate students' reading development. Indeed, the majority of this book addresses the different means for assessing students' reading. Part and parcel with a description of how to assess reading is the determination of where and when such assessment should occur. This is where the logical relationship among why we assess, what we assess, and how we assess should be evident. If we assess students' reading comprehension strategies and skills to determine the general success of a districtwide reading program, then standardized and norm-referenced tests might be the first choice of school administrators and other educational decision makers. Such tests, administered toward the end of the school year, seem well suited to the task. Test scores tell us whether certain cognitive strategies and skills have been learned. In contrast, if we assess students' progress to gauge the effectiveness of daily reading lessons, then our as...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Dedication
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Important Issues and Concepts in Reading Assessment
• Chapter 2. Reading Inventories
• Chapter 3. Teacher Questioning as Assessment
• Chapter 4. Performance Assessment
• Chapter 5. High-Stakes Reading Tests
• Chapter 6. Assessment Accommodation for English Learners and Students with Special Needs
• Chapter 7. Assessing "the Other": Important Noncognitive Aspects of Reading
• Chapter 8. Formative and Summative Assessment
• Chapter 9. Promoting Self-Assessment to Help Students Build Reading Independence
• Appendix
• References
• Related ASCD Resources
• About the Author
• Copyright