Allington, R. Teaching Struggling Readers . Taylor, D. Learning Denied . Portsmouth, N.H. Heinemann, 1991. Diagnostic assessment is not the result of giving tests or compiling test scores. Rather, assessment is a kind of detective work requiring insight, imagination, and judgment.
Good assessment requires reasonable care and an open mind.
The methodology of assessment is most useful when it is tied to informal procedures and instruction. Rather, suggestions, ideas, and models are woven together with case studies and practica so that attitudes, concepts and skills are developed conceptually and systematically. Problems for discussion drawn from the real world of literacy instruction. Writing assignments aimed at sharpening your own point of view. Explicit statements on personal preference or biases in literacy instruction.