Teacher Discussion Forums

As we all know , reading ability is most important in getting information.We have designed the course of extensive and intensive reading to improve their reading ability. Usually in our teaching, we will focus on the the background knowledge, reading skills training, which includes speed reading, words meaning guessing, summarizing the content of the text, get the detailed information, etc. But it is a little puzzing for me how to design a test paper to test reading proficiency. I usually try to test it with several parts , for example, vocabulary, normal speed reading and fast speed reading. But is it practical and feasible ? Could you give me some suggestions and share your experience with me?

In gereral, reading ability could be tested in the following aspects:

-deduce the meaning of wods
-understand explicity stated information
-understand the relations withing the sentences
-understand the relations between parts of a text through lexical devices and grammartical devices
-anticipate and predict what will come next in the text
-identify the main idea and other salient features in a text
-draw a conclusion
-skim and scan
-read critically

You could design your test paper according to the above skills.

I agree with what you are saying in terms of assessing for reading ability, but at the same time you need to consider the age group you are working with. I work with younger students (grades 1-3) and your main concern is their fluency, which includes automaticity, accuracy, and prosody. This means before comprehension can occur the students must be able to read at an independent level (which is usually marked at 95-98%). This seems high but if they are not able to read correctly, how can we ever expect them to have any comprehension? In my terms the best assessment strategies are those that have proven time again to help with these skills, such as running records (with retelling- at an instructional level) and timed repeated readings (which should start around 3rd grade). At the same time, it's the best if you don't just stick to one method of assessment because one assessment can not accurately gauge where your student lies in terms of skills, so it's probably best if you set up a portfolio set up. This is also the most time consuming, but you'lll probably learn the most about the student and how you can help them this way.