Using Informative Assessments for Effective Literacy Practices

Purposes – To examine the literature on alternative assessments for evaluating student learning in practical classroom learning experiences. To recommend areas of literacy development where additional assessment is needed.

Design – A review of literature on formative and performance assessment is provided and supplemented with samples of assessments recommended in the literature review.

Practical implications – Legislative and political mandates for accountability in student learning increase the need for teachers to understand and apply classroom screening, diagnostic, and progress-monitoring assessments. Teachers can use the information provided to think more carefully about the use of alternative assessments in their elementary and middle school classrooms.

Value – This chapter provides a frame of reference for informing teachers’ thinking about alternative assessments and suggests the need for classroom assessments to measure aspects of literacy development not frequently assessed.