5th Grade State Reading Assessment for Kansas

Overview of the Kansas 5th Grade Reading Assessment

Test Content

The 5th grade reading assessment tests students' fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Fluency refers to a child's ability to read smoothly at his or her grade level. Vocabulary refers not only to recognizing words, but also to using strategies to figure out unfamiliar words. These strategies include using context clues (deducing the meaning of a word from the surrounding words) and word structure (understanding how certain prefixes and suffixes affect the meaning of a word).

Comprehension includes using critical thinking and inferential skills to understand different types of texts, such as literature and informational or technical text. For example, when reading literature, 5th graders should be able to identify and describe the setting, plot and themes of the story. When reading informational text, they should be able to understand the difference between fact and opinion and identify the main idea.

Types of Questions

The Kansas Reading Assessment includes 74 multiple-choice questions that are divided into 3 sections with 20-25 questions per section. Your child will find a total of 3 narrative passages (stories) and 3 expository passages (non-fiction). There will also be one technical passage and one persuasive passage. The majority of the test consists of reading passages and answering questions about each one. Students are encouraged to refer back to the passages as often as needed when they are answering the questions.

There will also be about 15 questions on the reading assessment that are not tied to one of these 8 passages. They cover vocabulary (word roots, prefixes and suffixes) and text features (graphs, charts, titles and images). Additionally, there will be questions about text structure (sequence, problem-solution, compare-contrast and cause-effect).

How to Prepare Your Child

Your child can prepare for the 5th grade state reading assessment by practicing reading daily. When your child reads a book, give him an opportunity to interact with the text by discussing the plot and characters or the main idea.

For additional practice, your child can complete test prep online. EasyCBM has online 5th grade reading assessments, and EDinformatics has a variety of state standardized reading tests available for download.