How To Test Your Child's Reading Ability

Step 1: Prepare

Print this entire page and then take all of the following to your local public library:

• your child
• the printed copy of this page (should be several sheets)
• a note pad
• a pencil or pen

Or you can go to the library alone, check out some of the books from the list below, and do the test at home.

Step 2: Select Some Books

Select three or four books from the following table according to your child's grade level and your perception of his or her verbal ability:

To ensure that your child is not simply reciting from memory, choose books that your child has never read before. It is best to test using several books, since any one book might present an unusual difficulty to your child. One of the most important factors in choosing a book or story is that it should contain only words that are in your child's spoken vocabulary. When selecting a book, ask yourself whether your child would understand the story if you were reading it to him. If the answer is yes, then there is a good chance that the story is appropriate for use in your test.

Step 3: Test Your Child

Sit next to your child in a comfortable, well lit area. Ask your child to please read you a story. Give your child the book, help locate the first page of text, then ask your child to start reading out loud. While your child reads you should read along silently. For the purposes of this test you must resist the temptation to help your child read. Once your child starts reading you should remain silent except perhaps for some occasional words of encouragement. Under no circumstances should you read any portion of the book out loud or otherwise assist or prompt your child.

While your child is reading, keep track of the approximate percentage of words that he or she is getting right. Keep in mind that a successful reader must consistently identify at least 90% of the words correctly. Count a word as "correct" if your child has said the word that is printed in the book. It is OK if your child occasionally needs two or three tries to get the pronunciation right, but not OK if your child is guessing words that don't appear in the book, even if those words have a similar meaning. For example, if the word in the book is "boot" and your child says "shoe" then you should count it as an error, even if "shoe" would have made sense in the sentence.

Your child should be able to read smoothly, without any significant number of long delays or other signs of frustration (an occasional delay is OK). After each paragraph or so (or every page in very simple books), stop your child and ask what just happened in the story. Your child should be able to tell you in his or her own words what the text was about.

Here is what you should watch for:

• If your child refuses to read or cries or shows other signs of great frustration when asked to read independently, then there is almost certainly a serious reading problem. Capable readers are proud of their ability and they usually enjoy showing it off to adults.
  
  
• If your child fails to say at least 90% of the words accurately, then there is almost certainly a reading problem. Capable readers can correctly identify almost 100% of the words in any piece of age-appropriate text, no matter how unfamiliar it might be.*
  
  
• If you observe your child trying to guess which words might fit into the sentence rather than simply saying each word as written, then there is almost certainly a reading problem.*
  
  
• If your child tries to construct the story by looking at pictures rather than by reading the text, then there is almost certainly a reading problem. If you notice this behavior, try covering the pictures and starting over (remember that by third or fourth grade your child will be expected to read text that has no accompanying pictures).
  
  
• If your child cannot develop a reasonable pace or stumbles frequently or otherwise seems unsure, or seems to get the words right but mispronounces them, then your child has probably not had enough reinforcement of basic reading skills and practice in independent reading.*
  
  
• If your child can read the words but cannot tell you what the story is about, then your child is probably working too hard on identifying the words at the expense of comprehension. This is a sign of weak word recognition skills, resulting from too little practice and reinforcement. Capable readers are able to recognize and assemble words almost effortlessly, leaving their higher-order thinking skills free to comprehend the story.*

*Note: If you observe any of the starred items above, it may be a sign that you have chosen a book that is not appropriate for your child's comprehension level. You can test for this by reading another section of the book aloud and seeing if your child understands it. If you must go down more than one grade level before finding a book that your child can read successfully, then you should probably consider some form of reading instruction or at least a test of your child's basic skills.

Our I Can Read! program is designed to help children in first through fifth grades who are either not reading or who are experiencing significant difficulty in reading.

The source of the above table is a book entitled, Books for children to read alone: a guide for parents and librarians, by George Wilson and Joyce Moss, published by R. R. Bowker, ISBN 0-8352-2346-9. This book had only one printing in 1988 and may no longer be available, but your local library probably has it. Check with your favorite book seller for more information. The book contains all of the above information and also an excellent synopsis of the content of each book.