What is it Happening in Reading Assessment

Abstract

This paper explores how reading assessment is used to support 11to 13-year-old students in reading. Learning to be an effective reader of a wide range of texts is critical for students as they reach young adolescence. Using a socially constructed ontology, a qualitative approach was used to explore the perceptions of five principals, seven teachers and nine parents. The five case study schools were situated in low to middle socio-economic areas in New Zealand. The study found that there was a range of methods of assessing reading and analyzing the data, and the analyses of data supported decisions school-wide in supporting low progress readers. Also, students were assessed against the National Standards and this information was shared with parents.