Describes a reading program for gifted middle school readers designed to increase critical reading ability and student appreciation of literary technique and broaden understanding of sophisticated vocabulary. (MLF)

This study investigated the correlation between self-concept and reading achievement level in 20 reading-disabled students (mean age 10.3 years, mean grade level 4.75), having average intelligence. Self-concept was assessed using the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale and reading achievement level by the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment…

Four simple line-fitting procedures are presented for practitioners to summarize student time series performance data quickly: (1) Koenig's quarter-intersect procedure; (2) White's split-middle adjustment; (3) the Tukey I procedure; and (4) the Tukey II procedure. Data from 45 elementary school students in grades 4 and 5 are presented. (SLD)

Discussion of informal reading assessment procedures provides middle school teachers with several basic techniques for securing and using assessment data to implement an effective instructional program. (11 references) (MLF)

The 1983 annual report of Washington's statewide test of fourth grade basic skills achievement is presented in this document. Both state level and district-by-district results are reviewed. The first section of this report presents the overall results for the 48,000 fourth grade students who were administered the basic battery of the California…

Research data is presented to support special education approaches to personal and social development. Seventy-eight fourth- to sixth-grade handicapped students and 82 first-grade nonhandicapped students participated in the project. Promising research results suggest many questions to be addressed in future study. (JS)

This demonstration booklet illustrates the kinds of exercises or test questions and tasks used in the assessment of student achievement in reading and in writing by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Each student will be asked to complete the background section and the cognitive sections in one subject, and the assessment will…

Encouraging teachers to utilize procedures and techniques that help their students become active, willing lifelong readers, this handbook has been compiled to serve as a guide for integrating the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment's (PSSA) definition of reading as a dynamic, interactive process into classroom practice. The handbook…

This book makes a scholarly contribution to the debate about standardized testing in American education by using the methods of discourse analysis to examine not only representative material from reading tests but also children's responses to it. The book is particularly attentive to the role of culture in shaping children's understanding of what…

There is considerable interest in reading assessment and the influence that reading assessment can have on what is taught and learned in school. However, little is known about how teachers, administrators, parents, and students communicate and understand reading assessment information. Lacking this knowledge, educators do not know what kinds of…

This publication contains released test items for grade 4 reading from the 2001 Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). It is designed to assist teachers and administrators in the analysis of specific test items in order to identify patterns, trends, weaknesses, and strengths of student performance on the Essential Academic Learning…

A study was conducted to determine whether a teacher's reading to sixth grade students on a regular basis would have a significant positive effect on their reading comprehension. Twenty students, divided into experimental and control groups, were pretested and posttested using the "Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test." During the eight-week study, the…

Developed as part of the Minimum Performance Testing Program (MPT), these item specifications for sixth grade reading were designed to provide an overview of the general content and format of test items used to measure instructional objectives. Each item specification contains the following information: objective identification number; grade…

The reading and mathematics objectives of the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Tests for Grade 4 are described. In reading, objectives are defined for: (1) literal comprehension, the understanding of information explicitly stated in the materials; (2) inferential comprehension, the understanding of information not literally expressed; and (3) problem…

A study was conducted to determine if a teacher-constructed cloze procedure correlated significantly with two standardized tests of reading achievement, thereby testing G.D. Spache's claim that most teachers are unable to design valid and reliable assessment materials. Subjects were 60 fourth and sixth grade students who were administered the…