Cloze Assessment: Comprehension Assessment for Reading
The Cloze assessment consists of a number of text and student record sheets. It would be most efficient to have these as a centralised teacher resource for the school in kits if possible.
Overall Information
Cloze is one of the options that research recommends for determining a student’s reading comprehension level. It is the approach recommended by the Centre for Literacy and Disability Studies when working with students with complex communication needs since it doesn’t require speech – and we use it with the whole student group since it works for everyone.
The resource below is nearly at the end of Year 1. If you require texts at a higher level, you can use the instructions to create your own text. However, once students are at a Grade 2 reading comprehension level, you can check their comprehension by asking them to retell the text (using speech or AAC or writing) or by asking them comprehension questions once a fortnight.
Downloads and Materials
The overall instructions for creating and use Cloze to assess reading comprehension level were created by Professor Karen Erickson from the Centre for Literacy and Disability Studies.
Please note: Every time you use Cloze for assessing reading level, you need to have 15 blanks to determine if the level is appropriate for the student or not. If you don’t have 15 blanks in one book, then you’ll need to do two books at the same level to get a total of 15. This applies to all books in the earlier levels. The student record sheet should advise you of this if it applies.
Cloze Assessment Resource Information
All the Cloze resources have been created using Reading A-Z assessment resources, consisting of Benchmark Books and Benchmark Passages. Benchmark Passages at the earlier levels have been modified to add more pictures. The Benchmark Books and Passages have been developed to be used for assessment only – please don’t use these in your teaching. And to be covered by copyright please ensure your school has a licence for Reading A-Z if using these resources.
If you need to compare the Reading A-Z levels with another reading scheme or a single book the document below may assist with this. If the scheme you are using isn’t included on the table then please use Google to see if you can find a similar resource that meets your needs. There are a number of similar tables available online.
Cloze Passages and Record Sheets
Each Cloze kit uses a Benchmark Passage or Book from Reading A-Z. There is an unedited copy of each text, and a version that has been converted to Cloze. There is also an accompanying Student Record Form.
Each time you complete a Cloze Assessment task with a student you have a choice of using the text as an unfamiliar text or as a familiar text. If you are reading it as an unfamiliar text, then they would go straight to the Cloze task. If you are using it as a familiar text, then you can read the unmodified text a couple of times before doing the Cloze task – this can be done on preceding days if that is your preference. It doesn’t have to be done in one sitting. The scores required for familiar text versus unfamiliar text are on each student record sheet and also in the document “Instructions for Creating and Using your own Cloze passages“.