1. Informal Reading Inventories
IRIs
(The Who, What, Why, & How of Them)

2. Informal Reading Inventories
IRI consist of:
Text passages that correspond in difficulty to literature and textbook materials at grade levels from primer through secondary school
Sets of questions for each passage that test reader’s comprehension and recall after reading
Supplementary tests: phonics, cloze, spelling

3. Informal Reading Inventories
Advantages:
Offer complete set of word lists, passages and questions
Multiple forms at each grade level: assess oral and silent reading

4. Informal Reading Inventories
Disadvantages:
IRI material from basal series may have been read by student
Quality of passages used

5. Informal Reading Inventories
Choosing IRI:
Literary quality of reading passages
Clarity and relevance of questions
Balance of question types (literal to higher order)
Convenient format
Complete instructions; including examples
Balanced use of narrative and expository text
Means of assessing reader’s prior knowledge of topics before passages read for assessment

6. Supplementing Informal Assessments
Metacomprehension Strategies:
Use of appropriate strategies to help them understand and remember what they read
MSI: Metacomprehension Strategy Index
Think-alouds
Help with student’s comprehension by thinking aloud; thinking processes
Word recognition and Phonics Tests:
Nonsense words decoded
Names Test