About the Book
Combining essential background knowledge with hands-on tools, this practical resource provides a detailed roadmap for conducting multi-dimensional reading assessment. The authors' research expertise and extensive classroom experience are reflected on every page.
Presented are effective ways to evaluate student's spelling, word recognition, fluency and comprehension, strategic knowledge and more. Aided by lively case examples teachers, and student teachers can learn to tailor assessment to the needs of each child and use results strategically to inform instruction.
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction to reading assessment 2. General concepts of assessment 3. Informal reading inventories and other measures of oral reading 4. Fluency 5. Emergent Literacy 6. Word recognition and spelling 7. Comprehension 8. Strategic knowledge 9. Affective factors 10. Preparing a reading clinic report Appendix: Case studies
About the Author :
Michael C. McKenna, PhD, a former middle grades teacher, is currently Professor of Reading at Georgia Southern University in Savannah. He visits schools almost every day and has long been interested in identifying teaching strategies that really work in challenging classrooms. Dr. McKenna has published 7 books and more than 100 articles, and his research has been sponsored by the National Reading Research Center (NRRC) and the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA). Steven A. Stahl, EdD (deceased), was Professor of Reading at the University of Illinois at Urbana/n-/Champaign, where he taught graduate courses in reading. He was a nationally known researcher in the areas of beginning reading, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary instruction.
Review :
"McKenna and Stahl (2005) offer another comprehensive view of assessment issues in "Assessment for Reading Instruction"....The authors organize their chapters around accessible explanations of types of measures (e.g., norm-referenced testing, informal reading inventories) or focuses for assessments (e.g., fluency, early literacy, word recognition and spelling, comprehension, affective factors). In the latter case, each section is accompanied by assessment tools that can be easily reproduced and used by classroom teachers."--"Reading Teacher"
"McKenna and Stahl (2005) offer another comprehensive view of assessment issues in "Assessment for Reading Instruction,."..The authors organize their chapters around accessible explanations of types of measures (e.g., norm-referenced testing, informal reading inventories) or focuses for assessments (e.g., fluency, early literacy, word recognition and spelling, comprehension, affective factors). In the latter case, each section is accompanied by assessment tools that can be easily reproduced and used by classroom teachers."--"Reading Teacher"
"This is a wonderful book for teaching and learning the complexities of reading assessment. McKenna and Stahl's model presents a fairly comprehensive view of reading and the multiple factors that can contribute to reading fluency or failure. They strike a good balance between theory and practice, explaining a wide range of tools and purposes for assessing reading so one not only understands what to use for evaluation, but also why. The book provides numerous practical charts, checklists, tables, and surveys that can be used to assess aspects of reading for emergent through advanced readers. A definite 'must' for any course in reading assessment!"--Janet A. Norris, PhD, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Louisiana State University "This book offers a well-organized, up-to-date, and comprehensive discussion of classroom and clinical literacy assessment. The strong focus on the components of early reading and strategic knowledge will add to the expertise of teachers, education students, and clinical personnel, and will be particularly helpful in undergraduate and graduate reading assessment courses. The many ready-to-use assessment instruments and recommended techniques create a complete resource for field experiences or clinical use. Especially helpful features are the examples of individual students at a reading clinic and the chapter on preparing a reading clinic report."--Kathleen A. J. Mohr, EdD, Department of Teacher Education and Administration, University of North Texas
"This book provides practical information that teachers can readily apply in the classroom. Covered are just about all of the assessments that have been used through the years, in one volume. The writing style is accessible and all terms are accompanied by clear and concise definitions. Information on basic reading skills is provided to help teachers understand why different assessments are important and how to link assessment to instruction. This is a very useful 'how-to' book for teachers at all levels of expertise, and preservice teachers will find it an informative text."--Carmelita K. Williams, EdD, Education Consultant and Professor Emeritus, Norfolk State University
"The information in this book is essential for classroom teachers. McKenna and Stahl provide a framework of questions to guide teachers' thinking, straightforward explanations of assessments to address those questions, and instructional suggestions based on the results. This is the realistic, step-by-step text I've been seeking for my university-level assessment and intervention courses. It would be a useful resource for inservice training, too. Any classroom teacher, reading specialist, special education teacher, or paraprofessional who works with struggling readers should read this book."--Brenda L. Sabey, PhD, Dixie State College
