Assessing readers involves more than determining a reading level and moving them onto the next. Gail Boushey and Joan Moser developed the CAFE assessment system to help elementary students understand and master different strategies used by successful readers. CAFE is an acronym for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary, and the system includes goal-setting with students in individual conferences, posting of goals on a whole-class board, developing small group instruction based on clusters of students with similar goals, and targeting whole-class instruction based on emerging student needs.

This two-hour video takes viewers into grades 3-6 classrooms with students who have a range of previous experience with the CAFEsystem. Filmed over two years, the program includes:

* Sample whole-class and small-group lessons;
* Conferring with diverse students;
* Step-by-step explanation of the conferring notebook;
* Coaching sessions with teachers;
* Discussions of the specific needs of older learners;
* Launching lessons and introduction of the CAFE menu;
* Suggestions for using the CAFE system in classrooms of students who have a range of previous experience with the program.