Chapter 4: Assessment and Science Literacy: Approaches for Educators

Sebastian was an avid reader of science texts such as magazine articles, picture books, chapter books, and online websites. Within his elementary school classroom, Sebastian could often be found discussing his text selections with his classmates. His teacher, Carmen, struggled to determine how to assess how he was developing as an independent reader of science texts. When Sebastian read aloud and discussed his understandings with Carmen, she was unsure what a strong reader of science texts might look like. She also questioned how to help Sebastian navigate the new concepts that he encountered as he read. Carmen’s questions about assessment and instruction are important since students must learn to communicate about science with multiple parties through written texts and oral speech (Lemke, 1990). Students must also be guided to examine both how scientists talk amongst each other as well as communicate information to individuals outside the science community (Hasan, 1985; Pappas, 2006).