Effective reading instruction and intervention are rooted in effective assessments of children's developing skills in reading. The article aims to describe the development of new reading assessments to help promote beginning reading in Singapore primary schools. We begin with an introduction to the educational landscape and policies before articulating the need for developing the new reading assessments to enhance teachers' capacity in assessing children's beginning reading for formative purposes. A detailed description of the reading assessments is included in the article as we hope that the innovation can shed some light on primary reading instruction and assessment in the Asia Pacific region. We conclude the article by discussing the implications of the new reading assessments on the teaching and learning of beginning reading.