Which assessment can provide valuable insights into a child's reading strategies?

Observational assessment is particularly effective in providing insights into a child's reading strategies. This type of assessment involves monitoring how a child engages with reading materials, how they approach decoding words, their comprehension processes, and the strategies they use to make sense of text. Through observation, educators can gain a deeper understanding of a child's strengths and areas for improvement in reading, as it captures real-time interactions and behaviors in context.

By observing a student during reading tasks, teachers can note various strategies used, such as predicting outcomes, making connections, visualizing narratives, and self-correcting mistakes. This qualitative data offers a nuanced view of a child’s reading process that standardized tests or formal assessments might not reflect. As a result, observational assessments can inform instructional decisions and support personalized learning plans tailored to the specific needs of each student.