Spring Special '26: Assessment as your best friend, with Kate Winn and Stephanie Stollar, Ph.D.

Amplify Education

22 April 2026

In this episode of Science of reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert, Ed.D., is joined by Kate Winn and Stephanie Stollar, Ph.D, coauthors of Reading Assessment Done Right, who explain how to use assessment to actually accelerate student progress and drive instructional decisions. Stephanie, Kate, and Susan also discuss how to cut through assessment overload and focus on what truly drives instruction, the four essential purposes of assessment, and how they work together within Multi-Tiered System of Supports framework, and the common misconceptions that lead to ineffective practices.  Show notes: Check out Reading Assessment Done Right.Learn more about Stephanie Stollar.Connect with Stephanie Stollar LinkedIn.Connect with Stephanie Stollar on Facebook.Connect with Kate Winn on LinkedIn.Connect with Kate Winn on Facebook.Listen to the podcast Reading Road Trip.Listen to Season 2 of the Amplify podcast Beyond My Years.Join our community Facebook group.Connect with Susan Lambert. Quotes: "Assessment is a tool for conversation. It's an investigation. It's uncovering what is known, and there are multiple purposes. All assessments are constructed to answer questions." —Stephanie Stollar "If you don't have a question about your students, you don't need to do more assessment. This should not be a compliance activity." —Stephanie Stollar "Progress monitoring is like the GPS for educators." —Stephanie Stollar "We can actually do something with the information when you're using good assessments." —Kate Winn "Believe it or not, reading assessment can be so exciting. It can also be empowering." —Kate Winn "Having lots and lots of assessment data is not helpful. It can actually be counterproductive." —Stephanie Stollar "When I use my universal screener, it tells me which students are meeting benchmark, which ones aren't, and then I know exactly what to work on with those students." —Kate Winn Timestamps*: 00:00 Introduction: Assessment as your best friend 05:00 The need for practical assessment guidance 09:00 What is assessment and what is its purpose in education? 15:00 Understanding the differences between universal screening vs. diagnostic assessment 21:00 Progress monitoring: The GPS for educators 25:00 Building supportive systems and communities for teachers 28:00 The continuous improvement cycle of reading instruction 30:00 Addressing the "too many assessments" problem with an assessment audit 34:00 Misconceptions about assessment 40:00 The power of Tier 1 instruction 43:00 Why we need to screen all students multiple times per year 48:00 Final thoughts: Assessment as a tool for conversation and empowerment *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute