Approaches to the Informal Evaluation of Reading.

The eight articles in this compilation provide various approaches and techniques for use by classroom teachers in the informal evaluation of student reading performance. The first article outlines the many purposes for which informal measures may be used and briefly describes the various forms such measures may take, while the second focuses on teacher observation and addresses the testing concepts of reliability and validity. The third article discusses the manner in which oral reading should be evaluated and how measures of oral reading should be interpreted, and the fourth offers suggestions for evaluating decoding as well as comprehension skills. The fifth article reviews the many forms that cloze techniques can take, illustrates the breadth of informal evaluation procedures, and offers instructions for the construction and interpretation of cloze tests. The sixth article provides suggestions as to how content area teachers can use informal procedures with their students, and the seventh illustrates the interrelationships of the language skills by noting that if teachers begin to analyze the writing students produce they will gain many insights into the general language skills their students possess. The final paper reviews research indicating the values and limitations of informal reading inventories. (FL)