Literacy Assessment Techniques

Cooper (1997, p. 559) lists the following literacy assessment techniques:

Literacy Assessment Techniques
Technique	Purpose	Comments
Observation or "kid watching"	Watch students' performance in authentic learning situations.	An essential procedure for good classroom assessment and evaluation.
Checklists	Guide observations.	May be used to guide observations in many areas related to literacy learning.
Records of independent reading and writing	Keep track of independent reading and writing.	Should be used at all levels; gives insights about students' attitudes and habits.
Retellings	Assess meaning construction.	One of the best procedures to assess construction of meaning.
Prereading plan (PREP)	Assess prior knowledge.	Helps you plan type of support students need.
Responses to literature	Assess meaning construction, levels of thinking, and use of strategies.	Shows how students use what they have read and integrate ideas into their own experiences.
Student self-evaluations	Determine students' perceptions of their own reading and writing.	Helps students take ownership of learning.
Process interviews	Gain insight into students' metacognition processes.	Individual procedure that should be used selectively.
Teacher-selected reading samples	Assess meaning construction. Assess decoding, if done orally.	Informal procedure; may be collected and compared over time.
Literature circles	Assess meaning construction.	Integrates instruction and assessment
Interest inventories	Determine students' interests.	Provides a basis for planning learning activities.
Scoring writing using rubrics	Evaluate meaning construction through writing.	Provides a way of judging writing by looking at the entire piece.
Miscue analysis	Assess decoding and use of strategies.	Procedure requires detailed training.
Informal reading inventories	Assess meaning construction and decoding.	Procedure requires detailed training. Use judiciously.
Running records	Assess use of decoding strategies.	Procedure requires detailed training.
Performance assessments	Assess application of all strategies, skills, and knowledges.	Makes assessment an integral part of instruction.
Assessment procedures accompanying published materials	Varies according to publisher.	Should be used selectively.

Note: From Literacy: Helping Children Contruct Meaning (3rd ed., p. 559), by J. D. Cooper, 1997, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Copyright © 1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Used with permission.

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