To help college reading teachers develop an awareness of what standardized reading tests do and do not reveal about students' reading abilities, a study examined the testing of reading and criticized four major standardized tests. Results indicated that reading is tested through (1) reading passages accompanied by multiple choice questions, (2) cloze tests, (3) retelling a passage, (4) reading aloud, (5) reading and reasoning aloud, (6) informal reading inventories, (7) tests measuring the affective domain, and (8) vocabulary tests. Results also indicated that all of the four most popular standardized tests have problems. First, the multiple-choice Nelson Denny Reading Test measures reading comprehension, vocabulary development, and reading rate. Critics, however, say that the passages are too hard, time limits are unrealistic, and the test does not successfully predict academic success. Second, the Descriptive Test of Language Skills, Reading Comprehension Test is a timed multiple-choice test that includes scores for understanding main ideas, understanding direct statements, and drawing inferences. It is much easier than the Nelson Denny but ignores important academic skills. Third, the Degrees of Reading Power Test is untimed, uses the cloze technique, and reports scores in Degrees of Reading Power units instead of grade levels. Its main fault is that it tests the product of reading (comprehension) rather than the reading process. Fourth, the New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test, Reading Comprehension, is intended to test the skills necessary for college success, and is multiple choice and timed. Though comprehensive, it does not test sustained reading. The results suggest that no test adequately measures subtle reading skills in context, and thus they should only be used to measure gross reading ability. (SKC)