Perspectives from reading and information fields have identified similar skills belong to two different kind of literacy being online reading abilities and ICT skills. It causes a conflict between two research fields and increase difficult of integrating study results. The purpose of this study was to determine which views are suitable for…

This paper summarizes an investigation of the format used for equating the 1993 Illinois Goal Assessment Program (IGAP) sixth grade reading test. In 1992, each student took only one test, either a narrative test or an expository test. In 1993, there was only one test, which included both formats. Several possible approaches for linking the 1993…

The convergent and discriminant validities of tests designed to measure the subskills of literal and inferential reading comprehension in different content areas were assessed. A multitrait-multimethod matrix was generated, using three measuring methods: (1) a standardized reading test; (2) individually devised tests; and (3) teacher ratings.…

This study was conducted to determine how well the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) correctly identifies children who are experiencing reading difficulties and to describe more precisely the characteristics of children who have been identified as poor readers so that program planners can design more effective remedial instruction. The DRP and…

Reading achievement tests have been used to identify deficiencies in inner city, poor readers; however, they often do not provide information about encoding strategies which lead some children to academic success. Immediate memory and visual analytic differences which contribute to the success of skilled readers are isolated in this study using 20…

The development and use of item shells in the construction of a series of standardized tests of reading comprehension at the elementary school level are described. An item shell is an item that is devoid of specific content, but contains key words and a distinctive syntactic structure. The specific content of the item shell varies depending on the…

The specific performance characteristics of eight alternative cloze test formats were examined at the fourth and sixth grade levels. At each grade, 64 subjects were randomly assigned to one of four basic treatments (every-fifth/standard, every-fifth/cued, total random/standard, and total random/cued) and tested. Responses on each of the cloze…

The main purpose of this study was to illustrate a polytomous IRT-based linking procedure that adjusts for rater variations. Test scores from two administrations of a statewide reading assessment were used. An anchor set of Year 1 students' constructed responses were rescored by Year 2 raters. To adjust for year-to-year rater variation in IRT…

The passage dependence of an item refers to the degree to which it is necessary to read the associated passage in order to be able to answer that item correctly. This paper studies the value of obtaining data about passage dependence in the construction of reading comprehension achievement tests. Passage dependence indices were examined in several…

This study compared the reliability and validity of two different measures of reading ability, the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) and the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) Reading test and the ITBS Vocabulary test. The data consisted of scores of 377 grade 5 and grade 6 students on these tests, along with their assigned reading levels in the…

How the reference point for the Reading Test for New York State Elementary Schools was set is described. A sampling plan was used to define de facto reading standards in grades 5 and 6. Textbooks in English-Language Arts, science, social studies, health, and safety most used in those grades were determined by mailing a questionnaire to the…

Passages used in the Illinois Goal Assessment Program (IGAP) reading test are intact pieces of literature, stories, and essays that match classroom reading assignments and typical student reading experiences. There are 15 testlets, each containing 5 items, associated with each passage. Each testlet requires students to demonstrate various levels…

In response to the tradition of examining a new test's validity by comparing it with a well-established multiple-choice test, a study investigated whether multiple-choice tests with one right answer can measure the reading comprehension process as defined by constructivists. The study compared the information obtained from two different…

To support the construct validity of a locally developed, sixth grade reading achievement test, an investigation of factorial invariance was made across 1556 majority, 327 Black minority, and 136 Asian minority examinees. Although the hypothesis of a unidimensional factor pattern was retained for each group, hypotheses of equal factor weights…

The general purposes of this study were to investigate the factorial validity of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS), Reading Comprehension subtest, and to study the item difficulties in order to determine areas of strengths and weaknesses of sixth and seventh grade Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I students. A sample of…