Literacy Assessment and Instruction

This course requires teacher candidates to examine causes of reading difficulty, elements of skilled reading, and systematic models for analyzing and remediating literacy problems for students in middle and adolescent education. Topics include the function of standardized assessment devices in instructional decision-making, development and administration of informal assessment devices and inventories of reading and writing performance, evaluation and modification of environmental and instructional variables contributing to literacy achievement in content areas, student motivation, and strategies for determining appropriate procedures to assess students with diverse abilities and cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Candidates demonstrate ability to systematically identify critical variables that contribute to literacy success and failure and to develop and apply various procedures for assessing literacy difficulties of students with diverse backgrounds.