Evaluating reading

Teachers' Curricular Knowledge in Fourth Grade: The Interaction of Teachers, Children and Texts

“…A related concern is the question of how reading ability, and reading instruction, should be evaluated. While many, and school system officials in particular, still support the use of standardized tests, researchers increasingly take the diametrically opposed position that children's reading should be assessed in its occurrence in natural settings, by observing, listening, and conversing with children as they read (King, 1978;Barr, 1975;Griffin, 1978). The debate surrounding approaches to reading and its evaluation underlines the fact that teachers here, as elsewhere, work in an uncertain intellectual environment.…”