The assessment of French reading difficulties

The assessment of academic learning has been undergoing important changes in recent years. Although the distinction between summative and formative assessment introduced by Scriven (1967) is still useful, evaluation approaches and procedures are now more diversified. In this paper, we pay special attention to three forms of formative assessment centered on children who are at risk of reading disabilities: early screening, continuous screening, and diagnostic assessment. We first describe what these assessment procedures have in common. Then, we highlight the distinctive features of each procedure. Finally, we discuss the consequences of implementing these assessment procedures on decision-making in school settings.