Students as Partners: Using an Equity‐Oriented Critical Assessment Practices (CAPS) Approach in Reading to Empower Students and Inform Instruction

Abstract

This article offers a framework for more equitable classroom reading assessment known as a Critical Assessment Practices (CAPS) approach. CAPS includes a set of four principles that teachers can use to partner with, and to empower, students to support more equitable and informative classroom‐based reading assessment. Teachers can apply the CAPS approach to examine and adjust existing classroom reading assessment to make it more equitable and productive for students. The authors first describe a CAPS approach, then outline five stages teachers can use as they partner with students throughout assessment. Finally, the authors offer an example of how one first grade teacher applied a CAPS approach to adjust her existing assessment.