The Lack of Standardized Chinese Reading Proficiency Assessment Tools in Chinese Basic Education: The Current State, Causes, and Solutions

The lack of established Chinese reading proficiency assessment tools at the basic education level has hindered the scientific evaluation and systematic cultivation of reading ability in Chinese students. The study describes the current state of reading proficiency assessment in China and analyzes the underlying causes of the lack of established reading assessment tools in Chinese basic education, which include education culture-related factors like the pervasive utilitarian attitudes towards reading and misconceptions of reading proficiency, technical issues like the complexity of the Chinese language, insufficient reading assessment data, and research limitations, and education policy-related factors, such as the delayed reform of the education evaluation system and the lack of relatively unified understanding of reading proficiency. Corresponding suggestions are also proposed to address these challenges.