Colin Harrison is Professor of Literary Studies in Education at the University of Nottingham and Terry Salinger is a Senior Research Analyst at the American Institutes for Research, Washington DC.

• PART I Theories and assumptions underpinning reading assessment 1 Responsive reading assessment: is postmodern assessment of reading possible? 2 Ten dilemmas of performance assessment 3 Feminist poststructuralist perspectives on the language of reading assessment: authenticity and performance PART II What are the new approaches, and what are they attempting to achieve? 4 Australian perspectives on the assessment of reading: can a national approach to literacy assessment be daring and progressive? 5 Assessing reading in the English National Curriculum 6 The national assessment of reading in the USA 7 New emphasis on old principles: the need for clarity of purpose and of assessment method in national testing and for national monitoring 8 Curriculum-based assessment of reading in England and Wales: a national pilot study 9 Taking a closer look: a Scottish perspective on reading Assessment 10 Using direct evidence to assess student progress: how the Primary Language Record supports teaching and learning 11 Challenging the assessment context for literacy instruction in first grade: a collaborative study 12 Consequential validity of an early literacy portfolio: the ‘backwash’ of reform