Assessment of comprehension
The following are some examples of assessments for comprehension. It is important to consider which one is right for you based on the school you are teaching at and also the purpose you are conducting the assessment for.
COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT OF READING STRATEGIES (CARS)
- Diagnoses students reading comprehension.
- Provides information on how a student understands the 12 different reading comprehension strategies.
- Reading strategies that students struggle with can then be targeted through careful instruction.
- Can be used formatively, to guide teaching and review the various strategies that students need to focus on.
- Can be used summatively, to get an overall picture of a student's development over the course of the year.
FOUNTAS AND PINNELL
- Benchmark Assessment System (BAS) that enables teachers to determine a student's reading level.
- Useful for forming initial reading instruction groups.
- Can be used to identify students who need additional support in certain areas of their reading.
- Can be used formatively to design specific and effective instruction for individual intervention.
- Can be used summatively in order to assess the outcomes over a specified learning period.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT IDEAS
Reflection Journals (assessment as learning)
- Get students to regularly reflect on how they are progressing with:
- a comprehension strategy that has been their focus
- their comfortability reading different text types
- Spend time either one-on-one with a student, or in a small group of students to check up on progress.
- Can be used to assess how they are going and whether or not they need to be further challenged with a different focus.
- Students provide both examples and non-examples of the particular topic of study.
- Being able to show examples and non-examples allows the teacher to gauge the level of understanding of that particular student.
(Regier, 2012)