Understanding What Works in Oral Reading Assessments

Quality education for all is at the center of the Sustainable Development Goal for education, and reading is the gateway skill to all other learning. Effectively assessing children’s reading skills is vital, and governments are increasingly using oral reading assessments to evaluate and improve the skills of young children. The data from these assessments can be used to better direct policies and interventions.

This ebook by UNESCO Institute for Statistics presents recommendations for selecting, implementing and using oral reading assessments. The publication, supported by the Global Partnership for Education and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, also describes the basic principles that should be applied at the different stages of reading assessments—from planning and design to implementation and use of the resulting data.