For every teacher who has sought practical, comprehensive methods for recording and analyzing students' literacy processes, Literacy Assessment: A Handbook of Instruments will be an invaluable resource. The instruments in this handbook include "performance assessments" as well as forms and procedures that teachers have used to conduct ongoing assessment and encourage student self-assessment. They include interviews and attitude surveys, running records, comprehension checklists, spelling analysis, and emergent reading and writing evaluations. Most of the instruments have been developed by teachers, or in conjunction with teachers, for use in particular educational situations.

Literacy Assessment: A Handbook of Instruments was compiled to make assessment instruments discussed in Windows into Literacy more readily available to readers. Teachers may photocopy the instruments "as is" for classroom use only.