Structured External Assignment

Formal and informal reading diagnostic assessments are used to evaluate students reading ability by comparing their strengths and weaknesses to other students. Formal evaluations are based off of conclusions from student’s tests and statistics, whereas informal evaluations are based off of student’s performances during an activity. Some examples of these assessments include the Basic Reading Inventory, Slosson Intelligence Test, Slosson Oral Reading Test, Wepman’s Auditory Discrimination Test, Test of Visual Discrimination, and the Test of Psychological Process of Reading. Each of these assessments is used to assess a different component of reading literacy comprised of their own individual weaknesses and strengths.

Formal and Informal Reading Diagnostic Assessments:	Purposes:	Strengths:	Weaknesses:	Appropriateness:
Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT)	-Used to measure intellectual abilities of a child.   -Predicts an individual’s reading achievement.	-Quick and easy to administer   -Gives an idea of an individual’s cognitive ability at a fairly early age before the child enters into the education system.	-Is used on Children ages 4 and older, so children younger can’t have this assessment used on them.   -It doesn’t assess all multiple intelligences, just measures IQ.   -Follow up assessments are needed to verify results	-Use at the beginning of a school year to aid in the planning of what educational program is best suited for a child based on their cognitive function ability.
Slosson Oral Reading Test (SLOT)	-Used to determine an individual’s level of oral word recognition and reading level.   --Can be used to evaluate student progress over the years and determine their reading grade level.	-Quick method to assess an individual’s reading level, only takes 3 to 5 minutes.   -This can assist teachers in accommodating students who are not on grade level for reading by providing adequate materials.	-This diagnostic does not measure an individual’s knowledge of words or word comprehension.   -Some individuals are not oral learners.	-This assessment can be used in grades 1-12 at the beginning of the school year.
Basic Reading Inventory (BRI)	-Used to determine an individual’s reading grade level through sight word analysis, reading fluency passages, and comprehension questions.	-The results show what weaknesses and strengths an individual possesses, so you can specifically work on their areas of weakness.   -Permits one to acknowledge where the individual made an error, so that this error can be correct through remedial reading activities.	-Takes longer to administer than some of the other reading diagnostic assessments.   -Students may lose interest and focus due to the length, which can interfere with the results.	-Use at the beginning of the school year to generate a basis of where an individual is and set goals for that student to achieve, then at the end of the year administer the test again to observe what improvements have been made regarding the individuals reading level for each component of the BRI.   -Can be used in kindergarten until 12th grade.
Wepman’s Auditory Discrimination  Test	-To assess if an individual lacks the necessary phonemic awareness critical to reading literacy.   -To have an individual recognize the fine phonemes used in the English language.	-The test can be administered and scored within five minutes, providing a quick and easy assessment of   -Many different ADT’s are available to an individual who is slower than average in developing auditory discrimination.	-ADT’s cannot be used to predict specific learning disabilities in an individual and the results may not always be accurate.	-Can be given to students of all ages.   -It is best suited to be given at the beginning of the school year to pre-assess an individual’s knowledge of phonics.
Test of Visual Discrimination	-To assess if an individual can perceive letters   -Observe the differences in objects that are similar.	-Relatively short, quick assessment.   -Can be used with students who have been diagnosed with disabilities, as well as those who haven’t.     -Use black lines on a white background making it easier to see.	- Some VDT’s scoring methods can be confusing and difficult.   -The individual needs to possess good receptive language skills.	-Can be given to students of all ages.   -It is best suited to be given at the beginning of the school year to pre-assess an individual’s knowledge of visual perception.
Test of Psychological Process of Reading	-Determines the psychology relating to ways the brain processes how to read.   -Used to find the areas where there could be information processing errors pertaining to reading fluency or comprehension.	-Helps determine if there is a psychological processing problem that is affecting an individual’s ability to comprehend and read fluently.   -Able to determine if an individual can mentally recognize and combine letters to form words, then string words along to create sentences and phrases.	-Needs to be administered by a credible individual, who has been properly trained.   - Very long, arduous assessment that requires extensive methods of producing results.	-Can be given to students of all ages.   -It is best suited to be given at the beginning of the school year to pre-assess an individual’s mental process of information regarding reading.