Why Assessing Comprehension Is Hard

In our latest Science of Reading: Essentials episode, Susan Lambert, Ed.D., draws on expert voices from across the podcast to show how assessment can be one of the most exciting and empowering tools an educator has at their disposal. Featuring Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D.; Stephanie Stollar, Ph.D.; Kate Winn; Kymyona Burk, Ed.D.; Kajal Patel Below; Gina Biancarosa, Ed.D.; and Melissa Farrall, Ph.D., this episode covers the three types of assessment every educator needs—universal screening, diagnostic assessment, and progress monitoring—and how they work together; what the Oral Reading Fluency measure actually measures, why it matters, and how it's often misunderstood; and why assessing comprehension is so complex, and what teachers can do about it. 

Show notes: 

• Check out all of our Science of Reading Essentials episodes.
• Sign up for our upcoming Assessment Webinar Series. 
• Listen to Season 3 of Amplify’s Beyond My Years podcast.
• Listen to the full episodes:
  • The right assessment and the right data with Dr. Jan Hasbrouck
  • Assessment as your best friend, with Kate Winn and Stephanie Stollar, Ph.D.
  • Language is always an asset, with Kajal Patel Below
  • Understanding assessment, with Melissa Farrall, Ph.D.
  • Reimagining comprehension assessment, with Gina Biancarosa, Ed.D.
  • A proactive response to the adolescent literacy crisis, with Kymyona Burk, Ed.D.
• Subscribe to Susan’s new Science of Reading Substack.
• Join our Science of Reading community Facebook group.
• Connect with Susan Lambert.

Quotes:
“If you don’t have a question about your students, you don’t need to do more assessment. This should not be a compliance activity.” —Stephanie Stollar

“We never want to do one iota, one second, one minute of extra assessment that we don’t have to do unless it answers a key question that makes us better teachers.” —Jan Hasbrouck

“About 90% of all reading challenges are due to difficulty recognizing the words.” —Melissa Farrall

“We don’t want more testing. We want the right kind of testing.” —Kymyona Burk

“Once you ask a question, you can change what it is that someone has understood from what they read.” —Gina Biancarosa

“When we love the kids, we want to do the best for them.” —Kate Winn

“Ideally, kids would be assessed in their home language.” —Kajal Patel Below

Timestamps*:
0:00 Science of Reading Essentials: Assessment
3:00 Why educators have complicated feelings about assessment
4:00 The three key questions every assessment should answer
6:00 Universal screening
8:00 Screening multilingual and English learners
11:00 Diagnostic assessment
12:00 Progress monitoring
15:00 Why alignment across all three tools matters
16:00 Teacher-administered and curriculum-based assessments
18:00 Oral Reading Fluency (ORF): what it is and why it matters
24:00 Why ORF is widely misunderstood
28:00 The challenges of assessing comprehension
38:00 Key takeaways and next steps
*Timestamps are approximate