Assessment for Reading Instruction, 3rd Edition. Michael McKenna & Katherine Dougherty Stahl, $58.50

This trusted teacher guide and widely adopted text provides a comprehensive conceptual framework and hands-on practical tools for reading assessment. The authors present a clear roadmap for evaluating K-8 students' strengths and weaknesses in each of the basic competencies that good readers need to master. Teachers learn how to select, administer, and interpret a wide range of formal and informal assessments, and how to use the results to improve instruction. In a large-size format for easy photocopying, the book includes 30 reproducible assessment tools. Purchasers get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials.

Assessment in Perspective: Focusing On the Reader Behind the Numbers. Clare Landrigan & tammy Mulligan, $28.95 (Grades K-6)

Assessment is much more than just a number. This thoughtful book shows teachers how to use a range of assessment types — from reading conference notes and student work to running records and tests — together to uncover the real strengths and weaknesses of a reader. It also demonstrates that involving students in their own assessment is key to helping them set goals, monitor their progress, and celebrate growth. This innovative reference emphasizes the importance of assessing using varied sources, and explains how looking at different types side-by-side reveals patterns or inconsistencies. When assessment is viewed in this integrated way, instruction can meet high standards and still be developmentally appropriate.

Children, Language and Literacy: Diverse Learners in Diverse Times. Celia Genishi & Anne Hass Dyson, $30.95

Children, Language and Literacy celebrates the genius of young children as they learn language and literacy in our diverse times. Despite burgeoning socio=cultural diversity, many early childhood classrooms (pre-K to grade 2) offer a one-size-fits-all curriculum in which learning is too often assessed by standardized tests. In contrast, Genishi and Dyson proclaim diversity as the new norm. They feature stories of children whose language learning is impossible to standardize and teachers who do not follow scripts. These master teachers observe, informally assess, respond to, and grow with their students — some of whom are rapid language learners, and some of whom become speakers, readers, and writers at “child speed.” Much of this learning, regardless of tempo, is found within the language-rich contexts of play.

Chapters focus on children’s ways of communicating through varied modes, including the use of nonverbal expression; language variants; and multiple media. Throughout the text there is a resistance to labels such as “at risk” and a much-needed advocacy for child-sensible practices in a world where diversity is indeed the “new norm.”

Ekwall/Shanker Reading Inventory, 5th Edition. James Shanker & Ward Cockrum, $170.60

Based on the time-tested criteria of the informal reading inventory, the research-based, clinically verified Ekwall/Shanker Reading Inventory is the most coherent and comprehensive reading assessment instrument ever developed. It provides clear, easy-to-follow instructions that tell the examiner exactly how to go about conducting and interpreting the diagnosis. The instructions for both administering the test and formulating a diagnosis have been carefully refined in this edition to make them even more user-friendly.

Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties. David Kilpatrick, $66.00

Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties offers school psychologists, reading specialists, and educators a practical and accessible guide to the most relevant research, information, and strategies available for understanding, assessing, and intervening with students who present with reading difficulties. This essential resource draws on the author's Intervention Oriented Assessment, which determines why a student struggles with reading. The author's assessment technique aligns with other well-established assessments and current knowledge about the component skills needed for success in reading. The book also explores how to incorporate the most recent research on word recognition into practice in order to guide curricular decisions, evaluation practices, and intervention approaches. Designed for easy reading as well as quick reference, the text includes case studies that illustrate key concepts, callout boxes, and other design elements to call attention to important information.

The Great Eight Management Strategies for the Reading and Writing Classroom. Pam Allyn, Jaime Margolies & Karen McNally, $22.99 (Grades K-2)

Maximize your classroom time with management techniques that enhance student learning and achievement. This exciting resource provides practical solutions to everyday challenges and will inform and inspire your class planning all year long.

Integrating Test Prep into Reading & Writing Workshops, Grades 3-8. Nancy Jennison, $26.99

Classroom tested lessons and activities that teach students the skils they need to become successful readers and writers and excel on tests.

Next STEPS in Literacy Instruction: Connecting Assessments to Effective Interventions. Susan Smartt & Deborah Glaser, $45.95

This practical guide helps the educator do more with the valuable information gathered from literacy assessments. Next STEPS in Literacy Instruction takes the guesswork out of intervention and helps transform struggling students in to skillful readers.

Pulling Together: Integrating Inquiry, Assessment and Instruction in Today’s English Classroom. Leyton Schnellert, Mehjabeen Datoo, Krista Ediger & Joanne Panas, $24.95

Pulling Together shows how the collaborative process is reflected in all aspects of the literacy learning process, from unit planning to the inquiry process to linking assessment to responsive lesson design. The book explores working together with students to develop and explore essential ideas and practices, including:

• responsive teaching and assessment
• reading as a personalized and meaningful experience
• critical literacy

Complete with diagrams, graphic organizers, classroom examples, assessment tools, and lists of core understandings, this timely guide presents a comprehensive answer to the big questions about teaching English language arts.

Reading Assessment: a Primer for Teachers and Coaches, 2nd Edition. JoAnne Schudt Caldwell, $30.95

Now in a revised and expanded second edition, this invaluable book provides teachers and coaches with the information and tools they need to get started on the complex process of reading assessment. Grounded in a solid scientific framework, the book presents practical strategies that enable teachers to recognize "good reader" behaviors, assess students' strengths and weaknesses, analyze the evidence collected, and make instructional decisions.

This brief, practical text — a concise, concentrated version of the author's popular Diagnostic Teaching of Reading — offers prospective teachers all of the essential tools for determining and addressing the needs of K-12 students who find reading a difficult and challenging endeavor … The first half of the text explores the role of the reading teacher and ways to gather and analyze assessment data; the second half sets out detailed descriptions and step-by-step procedures for 55 instructional techniques proven to turn struggling readers into successful ones.

Test Talk: Integrating Test Preparation into Reading Workshop. Amy Greene & Glennon Doyle Melton, $21.95

This compelling book shows that teachers don't have to choose between best practice teaching and test preparation; effective test-taking strategies can be integrated into authentic reading instruction, in ways that are simpler for teachers and more meaningful for students.

Word Journeys: Assessment-Guided Phonics, Spelling, and Vocabulary, 2nd Edition. Kathy Ganske, $49.95

This trusted teacher resource and course text provides a comprehensive approach to assessing and building children's word knowledge (grades K-8). Kathy Ganske shows how carefully planned word study can improve students' reading and writing skills while fostering their appreciation of language. Complete instructions are provided for implementing the Developmental Spelling Analysis (DSA), an easy-to-use assessment tool, and for tailoring instruction to learners' strengths and weaknesses. Numerous word lists, student work samples, and "Literature Links" are included, along with 27 reproducible forms. The large-size format facilitates photocopying. Purchasers also get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials.

Writing Assessment and Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities, Grades K-12. Nancy Mather, Barbara Wendling & Rhia Roberts, $41.95

Research-based, classroom-tested strategies to help students of all ability levels improve writing skills. Includes 100+ student writing samples with guidelines for analysis.