5 Strategies to Assess Reading Levels

When assessing a child's reading level, it's important to use a variety of strategies to cater to diverse learning styles and promote an inclusive classroom environment.

Five ways that you can assess a child's reading include:

1. Flash cards. By using flash cards, I am able to frequently quiz and review my students' knowledge of high frequency words and sight words. This allows me to test if my students are able to recognize and pronounce these words when they are pulled out of the context of a storybook.

2. Teacher interview. An interview or conference style assessment allows me to have a discussion with the student on what has been read. I am able to determine if the information has been retained and can be recalled. By asking comprehension questions, I can also assess whether the student has understood what has been read.

3. Open-ended question. After a shared reading of a text, I can present an open-ended question that students must respond to in a journal reflection. This question will be designed to get students thinking and writing. Similar to the teacher interview, it will assess each student's level of comprehension, ability to make connections and make the text meaningful by allowing the student to make personal or real world comparisons.

4. Student self-assessment. By providing a self-assessment, the student is able to reflect on his/her own learning. This provides me with an evaluation of where the student is at, where the student needs to be and what the student is struggling with. I can thenfocus on these areas during guided reading sessions. This type of assessment also allows the student to self-monitor his/her progress and take responsibility for it.

5. Anecdotal notes/observations. While it is important to assess the student one on one, it is also important to assess the student during independent reading. By observing and taking notes, I have a clearer picture of whether or not the student is retaining and implementing the strategies that he/she has learned. This also allows me to determine whether the gradual release of responsibility can continue or whether the student needs to be reeled back slightly to work on key strategies or areas that require improvement.

Tags: Reading, assessment, strategies

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Permalink Reply by Leesa johnson on November 11, 2016 at 12:05am

I thought this question about the importance and benefits of assessments was very helpful to show how assessments can provide good reading instruction. The students self-assessments to each reading area and give specific examples. Assessment not only benefits the students, it helps teachers to be quality educators.