Indicates that the two tests measure distinct factors in reading comprehension. (RB)

This study explored the validation of a criterion or reference score for determining the adequacy of any individual's cloze score. The hypothesis tested in this research was that a cloze preformance of 40 percent on materials ranging in difficulty from grades 4 to 8 will predict a 75 percent criterion level of reading comprehension based on a…

This paper reports the results of a behavioral anchoring analysis of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (Form G, Level 12) vocabulary (41 items) and reading comprehension (56 items) tests. Subjects were 82 sixth-grade students enrolled at the Carterville (Illinois) Grade School. More specifically, a curriculum-referenced interpretation of the ability…

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…

It was hypothesized that a positive relationship exists between a reader's interest in a passage and his level of comprehension of it. The subjects, 90 sixth grade boys of at least average ability, read a pre-test passage and indicated their interest and comprehension by writing in the deletions for the previously read passage as it appeared in…

Reports on a study to develop and test a short form reading attitude survey which could be readily used by classroom teachers. Results showed that most students hold favorable attitudes toward reading, and that the survey is reliable, quick, and simple to use. (RAE)

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…

Word-deletion items to be used as measures of comprehension were constructed by deleting a content word from an ambiguous target sentence constrained by an accompanying context sentence. One hundred twenty, third-grade students and 120 sixth-grade students each completed all of the items as one of three degrees of contextual constraint. Analysis…

To determine the effectiveness of one method of rate training in grades two, four, six, and eight, four classes of pupils in each of the four grades studied were assigned randomly to experimental or control treatments: two classes were given 20 lessons each of rate training, one control class was given instruction emphasizing comprehension, and…

Fifth- and sixth-graders were tested with multiple-choice fact and inference questions about a reading passage, then given feedback either with or without the text present. Retesting occurred four days later. Results corroborated recent findings on age-related improvement in inferential processing comprehension and memory. (Author/SJL)

Two related studies were conducted to determine whether students read all-capital text and mixed text displayed on a computer screen with the same speed and accuracy. Seventy-seven college students read M. A. Tinker's "Basic Reading Rate Test" displayed on a PLATO computer screen. One treatment consisted of paragraphs in all-capital type…

As part of an investigation of the appropriateness of the original Anchor Test Study equating results for black and Spanish-surnamed students, this Appendix lists the detailed results of the analyses for grade six, origanized by vocabulary, reading comprehension, and total reading scores. For each analysis, a two-page set of results is presented.…

The Arkansas Educational Assessment Program (AEAP) was initiated in 1979 when the Arkansas legislature passed Act 666, the Education Assessment Act. AEAP provides meaningful data on student achievements to educators, legislators, parents and citizens on the status and progress of Arkansas basic skills education. This information assists schools in…

The purpose of this study was to determine if selected mental, mathematical, reading, and personality assessments of sixth-grade pupils could predict high achievers in mathematical verbal problem solving. The subjects were 112 sixth graders, 56 classified as high achievers in mathematical verbal problem solving and 56 classified as low achievers…

Tests of reading comprehension presently used do not provide one important item of technical data: the extent to which questions used in the test could be answered without reading the paragraphs upon which those questions are based (paragraph dependency). This leaves the test user guessing as to whether the students taking the test and performing…