Which type of assessment is most informative about a student's decoding abilities?

A miscue analysis is the most informative type of assessment regarding a student's decoding abilities because it focuses specifically on the reading process and how students interact with text. This type of assessment involves a detailed examination of errors and self-corrections that a student makes while reading aloud. By analyzing these missteps, educators can gain insights into a student's phonetic awareness, word recognition skills, and understanding of letter-sound relationships—all of which are integral components of decoding.

Through miscue analysis, teachers can identify patterns in a student's reading behavior, such as whether they are substituting words, skipping words, or mispronouncing them. This information is crucial for tailoring instruction to address specific decoding challenges an individual student may face, enabling more targeted interventions that can improve reading skills over time.

Other assessments mentioned, like a vocabulary quiz or a standardized test, may provide valuable information about a student’s overall literacy skills or knowledge of word meanings, but they do not specifically analyze the mechanics of reading, such as the ability to decode words. Similarly, while an oral reading fluency assessment measures a student's reading pace and accuracy, it may not delve deeply into the specific errors made during decoding, which is crucial for identifying and addressing particular needs in that area.