How do baseline tests assess vocabulary? - Quick Guide for Teachers

Vocabulary is one of the key building blocks for helping students communicate effectively, but it’s also essential to school performance more widely. Research has consistently found that the extent of a child’s vocabulary knowledge strongly relates to their overall academic performance.

But vocabulary is not as simple as handing out lists of words. There is more complexity around understanding of words and being able to apply context. That’s why vocabulary is presented to students in various different ways during their baseline assessment, but generally falling into 3 categories:

• Picture questions
• Word questions
• Phrase questions

The Quick Guides for Teachers collection have been curated by the research and development team at Cambridge CEM to share insight on how baseline assessments support a positive learning environment in the classroom.

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