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Informal Classroom-Based Assessment

Specific spelling errors can signal a child's slow progress and the need for extra help. Dr. Louisa Moats shows one Washington, D.C. teacher how to identify the errors and remediate them.

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Administering informal assessments on a regular basis throughout the school year provides useful information that can help teachers to identify the individual strengths and weakness of each student.

This informal assessment information can help you decide:

How to plan future instruction so that student needs are met
How students should be grouped for instruction so that each student receives instruction at the right level of difficulty
If instruction is being delivered at the right pace
Which students need individual support

There are different informal assessment tools for assessing various components of reading. It is important to note that no single assessment will provide insight into all reading related components that teachers need to know about. It is important to ask yourself: "What do I want to know about my students? What do I want to assess?" See the following articles and resources for worksheets and information to help you get started.

What's 'Normal,' What's Not: Acquiring English as a Second Language

By: Celeste Roseberry-McKibbin and Alejandro Brice (2005)

How can you tell when a student has a language-learning disability and when he or she is merely in the normal process of acquiring a second language?

Informal Reading Assessments: Examples

By: Reading Rockets (2004)

The following are sample charts you can use when assessing students informally in the classroom. Most of the assessments here should be given one-on-one.

Informal Classroom-Based Assessment: Watch & Learn

By: Reading Rockets (2004)

The following are five short video clips that offer you the chance to watch and learn effective classroom-based assessment strategies. The video clips are from Reading Rockets' PBS television series Launching Young Readers.

Catch Them Before They Fall: Identification and Assessment to Prevent Reading Failure in Young Children

By: Joseph K. Torgesen (1998)

Early identification is crucial when it comes to helping children who are having trouble learning to read. This seminal article by Joseph Torgesen explains the assessment process and reviews the more commonly used assessment tools.

Informal Classroom-Based Assessment

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