Choosing the right text for assessing comprehension is not an easy, five-minute job. However, for many of us – whether we are teachers or assessment specialists – it is one of the more pleasant tasks.
Browsing children’s books, dipping in and out of old favourites, chancing upon moving, funny and exciting extracts, all offer a chance to get to know the vibrant world of children’s literature. Our reading assessment team has been doing this job for over half a century and we have learnt a few lessons along the way.
The intended purpose is critical in selecting a suitable text. Is the text to be used as the basis of a collective classroom activity, or for solo test practice under exam conditions?
