Understanding and Using Reading Assessment, K-12: Edition 4

Peter Afflerbach

Jan 2025 · Guilford Publications

About this ebook

Well established as a teaching resource and course text, this guide to the "whats," "how-tos," and "whys" of reading assessment is now in a thoroughly revised fourth edition. Peter Afflerbach succinctly introduces major types of assessments, including formative and summative performance assessments, teacher questioning, and high-stakes testing. He provides an innovative framework (the CURRV model) for evaluating the suitability of assessments and combining them effectively to meet all students' needs. Emphasis is given to assessing core reading skills and strategies as well as noncognitive and social–emotional aspects of reading development. Helpful features include detailed examples of assessment done well, within-chapter "Enhance Your Understanding" questions and activities, and 25 reproducible and downloadable checklists and forms.

New to This Edition

• Explains assessment in a science-of-reading context.
• Increased focus on equity issues, plus updated theory and research throughout.
• Chapter on assessing early reading.
• Chapter on assessing digital and critical reading.

About the author

Peter Afflerbach, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. His research interests are individual differences in reading, factors influencing reading achievement, reading comprehension strategies, and reading assessment. Dr. Afflerbach has served on National Academy of Education and National Academy of Sciences committees related to literacy and literacy assessment. He is a member of the 2025 Reading Framework Development Committee of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and has served on other NAEP committees and on the board of directors of the Literacy Research Association. Dr. Afflerbach is an elected member of the Reading Hall of Fame and a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. A founding editor of the journal Metacognition and Learning, he has published his work in numerous theoretical and practical journals and several books. Prior to his university career, Dr. Afflerbach served as a Chapter 1 remedial reading teacher, a middle school reading and writing teacher, and a high school English teacher. He is a proud graduate of New York City public schools.