New Forms of Assessment in Reading: Capturing the Gist of Student Performance

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to share both the process and products of an innovative development project in reading comprehension assessment. This applied research project addressed the need for a valid and reliable measure that would capture credible and systematic evidence of reading comprehension abilities that teachers believed had been achieved by their students but were not being measured by traditional, standardized, norm-referenced multiple-choice tests. A notable challenge in this project was to develop an assessment with an engaging format and structure and to do so in a familiar context for reading that reflected sound instructional strategies.