To determine if the Sistema de Evaluación de la Lectura (Sistema) is a valid and reliable assessment of a student’s Spanish reading level, a formative evaluation was conducted with a broad spectrum of classroom readers in different regions across the United States. This formative evaluation generated ongoing and immediate feedback from field-test examiners and Spanish readers in grades kindergarten through third grade that was used during the continued development of the program to ensure that it met standards of validity and reliability.

In summary, after two and one-half years of editorial development, field testing, and independent data analysis, the Sistema texts were demonstrated to be both reliable and valid measures for assessing students’ Spanish reading levels.