What is an effective way to assess students' reading comprehension?

Writing a summary of the text is an effective way to assess students' reading comprehension because it requires them to distill the main ideas, key details, and overall message of the reading material. By summarizing, students must engage deeply with the text, analyze it, and synthesize the information in their own words, which demonstrates a clear understanding of the content.

This method not only showcases their ability to recall important aspects of the text but also reflects their ability to interpret and convey the meaning in a coherent manner. Summarization encourages higher-order thinking skills, as students must evaluate the significance of the information and determine what is essential to include in their summary. Additionally, it allows teachers to gauge how well students can connect various elements of the text and understand its structure and themes.