Toward Defining a Comprehensive Assessment Model for College Reading.

Many developmental programs rely exclusively on one standardized reading test not only to place and diagnose incoming students but also to evaluate program effectiveness (Wood, 1989). In fact, assessment at the postsecondary level is often viewed only as an accountability issuea means to an endwith the end being an improved score on a standardized reading test. Whether it is a percentile rank, a Degrees of Reading Power unit, or a cut-off score on a state mandated test, these scores all too often determine how many students will be in the program, in what materials they will be placed, and how long they will remain. Scores also can indicate the success or failure of college reading programs and thus affect funding. To remedy the situation, some reading professionals search for a better standardized test, but unfortunately the solution is not that simple. Rather than simply changing tests or viewing assessment merely as an accountability issue, college reading programs need to conceptualize a comprehensive model of assessment that reflects current reading research and theory, is appropriate to the philosophy and goals of their program, and is unique to the characteristics of their students. Obviously, this task is not easy. The purpose of this article, then, is to share our perspectives on college reading assessment through an examination of characteristics of a comprehensive assessment model and then to discuss how we have