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Standardized Tests and Informal Reading Assessments

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Can you help me out with the following assignment? I could use some ideas and examples and a jump start. Thanks so much!

PART 1
Analyze the pros and cons of standardized tests as tools for obtaining information about children's literacy strengths and needs that can guide instruction.

PART 2
In addition, describe how you might introduce and explain portfolios to students and how they can be used as guides to instruction and as informal or summative assessments. Incorporate responses to these questions:

1. What items might be included and why?

2. How are portfolios maintained and evaluated by the student as well as by the teacher?

3. How can portfolios be used as summative and formative assessments?

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The following posting discusses standardized tests and informal reading assessments.

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Hello,

There is a lot of material on this subject so you should be able to write this with relative ease, in conjunction with the following notes.

PART 1 - The pros and cons of standardized tests as tools for obtaining information about children's literacy strengths and needs

Since their inception, standardized tests have had both staunch advocates and fierce critics.

First, let's examine the pro side of standardized testing. In a society that believes all children should have equal access to the same quality education, the nation has developed certain grade level standards that all children are expected to learn year over year. The very nature of the word 'standardized' gives way to the notion that all children taking the exam are on an equal playing field. By administering this exam, districts, states, and the nation can see what they are doing well and what areas they need to improve on. The idea is that if one school in a district performs exceedingly well on a standardized exam, while another school in the same district performs portly, then administrators have cause to examine what is taking place that would cause such a disparity. Likewise, standardized tests can be used to gauge an individual student's progress when compared to similar students at his or her own grade level. They can determine ...

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