Chapter 1
Foundations of Reading Development
Course: Foundations Of Reading 890
Subject: Foundations Of Reading 890
Chapter: Reading Assessment And Instruction 5849 9750
Formal Assessment
Formal assessments are standardized, structured tests that measure reading skills in a consistent, uniform way across many students. The defining feature of a formal assessment is standardization: the test is administered, scored, and interpreted according to the same fixed procedures every time, regardless of who takes it or who gives it. This consistency is what allows results to be compared meaningfully across students, classrooms, and even whole populations.
Formal assessments are built to meet two technical standards that the exam expects you to recognize:
- Reliability — the test produces consistent, stable results (a student would score about the same on Tuesday as on Wednesday).
- Validity — the test actually measures what it claims to measure (a reading comprehension test measures comprehension, not, say, background knowledge of the test topic).