Fragile Evidence: A Critique of Reading Assessment

by Peter Johnston, Patrick Shannon, Sharon Murphy, et al.

Book Overview

Fragile Evidence --a critique of reading assessment informed by newly emerging conceptualizations of validity and reliability--brings psychometric theory, reading theory, and social critique to bear on reading assessment. Taking its lead from contemporary psychological theory and other fields which ponder the role of evidence and argumentation in making claims about social issues, this text examines the historical and contemporary ways in which such...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805825304
• ISBN13: 9780805825305
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.7" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

The emperor is naked

This book does an excellent job of pointing out internal and external validity and reliability issues with a wide range of standardized tests used to assess reading. I found it remarkable to note that most of these tests seldom (if at all) ask readers to read real connected text. The authors do point to some alternatives for reading assessment. Most knowledgeable literacy educators will already have a wide array of means for developing a full picture of any child's literacy development. This book opens the doors wide toward having a conversation around the reductionistic perspectives represented by standardized reading assessments, the purposes they are used for, and the impact they can have on children's literacy.