Five Byproducts of On-the-Spot Classroom Reading Assessments

In this article in Reading Today, author and former teacher Jennifer Serravallo says that because standardized reading tests ask students to read silently and answer multiple-choice questions under high-stakes conditions, they have limited utility for teachers. She suggests five insights that lower-key classroom assessments can provide throughout the year:

• How a student handles print, especially in the early grades – Only when a teacher listens to a child reading a passage aloud (perhaps conducting a running record) is it possible to learn about errors and self-corrections and do an accurate miscue analysis to meet the student’s needs.

• The child’s fluency – Listening to students as they read aloud gives important insights on whether they can break up sentences into chunks, pause appropriately, and read with expression. This is vital information for finding each student’s reading level and helping them with specific problems.

• What will engage a child – “To support children in enjoying a literate life, we need to help them learn how to find books they will love, and how to develop the stamina necessary to stick with the books,” says Serravallo. This kind of “interest inventory” and coaching can only be done day by day in the classroom. 

• What’s really going on with student comprehension – Multiple-choice test questions on short passages that are often well above students’ current reading levels provide incomplete and sometimes downright misleading information, says Serravallo. Open-ended questions on appropriate books followed by thoughtful discussions are far more informative.

• What students can do in collaboration with others – “When we have the opportunity to converse with others, we can take in new perspectives, clear up misconceptions, and arrive at new ideas,” says Serravallo. “Kids need opportunities to meet with partners and book clubs, and to talk as a whole class.” In such settings, teachers gather valuable insights on how to improve teaching and learning.  

“What Standardized Tests Don’t Tell You: The Information Only a Teacher Can Decipher” by Jennifer Serravallo in Reading Today, November/December 2014 (Vol. 32, #3, p. 12-14), www.reading.org; Serravallo can be reached at jserravallo@gmail.com. 

From the Marshall Memo #563