Measuring Up: Advances in How We Assess Reading Ability

In recent decades, the science of reading acquisition has been advancing through interdisciplinary research in cognitive, psycholinguistic, developmental, genetic, neuroscience, cross-language, and experimental comparison studies of effective instruction. Some of the science of reading has emerged from the theory and research into the realm of practice and policy. Yet the science and practice of measuring “reading comprehension” has remained relatively immune to much of this foundational knowledge. Measuring Up questions the traditional format of reading comprehension tests, typically a single series of questions asked about a series of passages, and offers ideas and innovations we might expect in a next generation of 21st century reading assessments.

Sabatini, Albro, and O'Reilly believe that in light of the move towards Common Core State Standards and assessments, as well as significant national investments in reading and literacy education, it is a critical and opportune time to bring together the research and measurement community to address fundamental issues of measuring reading comprehension, both in theory and in practice.

John Sabatini is a Senior Research Scientist in the Research & Development Division at Educational Testing Service in Princeton, NJ. His research interests and expertise are in reading literacy development and disabilities, assessment, cognitive psychology, and educational technology. He is the principal investigator of an Department of Education funded grant to develop pre-K -12 comprehension assessments.


Tenaha O'Reilly is currently a Research Scientist at Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey. His research interests include a variety of topics relating to reading comprehension, metacognition, background knowledge and summative assessment.

Elizabeth R. Albro is acting commissioner of the National Center for Education Research, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Her research interests and expertise include the development of reading and language in school settings, as well as the use of findings from cognitive science in education practice. She has spent the past decade overseeing research programs in the areas of reading and writing and cognitive science at the National Center for Education Research.