Free Reading Assessments

The ability to "Read" encompasses several skills which can all be measured through informal testing or screening. Free reading tests are available online to help you assess your child's current reading level.

Reading is primarily comprised of three separate reading skills. Reading decoding, fluency, and comprehension. Reading decoding is the ability to 'decode' or decipher the sounds represented by each letter or combination of letters in a word. This is the first, and most basic, skill required for a child to be able to read. If you suspect your child has dyslexia, you may want to begin with a free online screening for dyslexia available through the Reading Success Lab.

An informal screening test for decoding skills is available online. This test ONLY screens for decoding skills, not for reading comprehension. The test is called the "Red Flag Reading Screening". This test is only a screening test, best used to gauge how well, or if, your child is progressing in reading or to determine if your child is indeed reading at or near grade-level. The Red Flag Reading Screening is a useful tool for keeping track of remediation progress if you are working on reading decoding skills with your child.

The second component of reading skill is called "Reading Fluency", which is reading smoothly in a rhythmic, and expressive manner. If your child is reading fluently, he will be able to read through a passage without stopping for more than a second or two to figure out words, and will generally read the passage as if he were a smooth talker. A child may falter briefly every few paragraphs and still read fluently. It is the degree and frequency of hesitations that determine if a child reads fluently. (continued below..)

For children with reading decoding difficulties, reading smoothly with understanding can be a significant issue. When you have your child practice Reading Fluently, it will be helpful to measure your child's fluency level. A great free tool to use is DIBELS. The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) are a set of standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy development. They are designed to be short (one minute) fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of pre-reading and early reading skills. You can use the DIBELS assessment when you begin working on fluency and at regular intervals to measure progress. DIBELS is offered by the University of Oregon Center on Teaching and Learning. (continued below..)

The third component of successful reading is "Reading Comprehension". There is a reading comprehension assessment available for free at Mindplay. I had trouble with this assessment because my computer would not play the sounds in the Phonics portion of the test, so this test may or may not be useful to you. If you can hear the sounds in the first part of the test, you should be set to continue with the assessment (which assesses both decoding and comprehension).

You may also wish to check out our information on Reading Fluency, Reading Comprehension, and Vocabulary since these aspects of reading skill can have a significant influence on Reading ability as well. Our information on Speed Reading may be of interest once your child reads fluently beyond a third grade level.

Best Wishes in helping your child learn to read well!