Past reading research suggests that measures of reading comprehension should be made context dependent. Reading comprehension test questions that are context dependent are best answered by examinees only after the accompanying passages have been read. Recently, there has been some disagreement concerning the exact importance of context dependence…

Although techniques of measuring reading rate have been studied and reported in the literature, actual practice is not always consistent with the findings. A study reexamined the reading rate issue in light of additional information regarding the test-taking experience provided directly by the test takers themselves. The purpose of the study was…

Supports the hypothesis that cloze measures the extent to which linguistic cues in the immediate environment of a missing word tend to supply meaning. (RB)

A survey of the results of studies of the "Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities" finds the test of limited predictive value. (RB)

The effects of test anxiety on reading comprehension were studied in two experiments. In the first experiment, 75 college students completed a test anxiety scale and the McGraw-Hill Basic Skills System reading comprehension subtest. The low anxious students in this experiment showed higher reading comprehension than the high anxious students. In…

A STUDY DESCRIBED AS THE FIRST APPLICATION OF CROSS-VALIDATED UNIQUENESS ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES WAS DESIGNED TO ELIMINATE THE EFFECTS OF IMPERFECTIONS IN A PRIOR FACTOR-ANALYTIC STUDY OF READING COMPREHENSION WHICH USED TESTS ESPECIALLY CONSTRUCTED TO MEASURE MENTAL SKILLS IN READING. A UNIQUENESS ANALYSIS BASED ON LARGE SAMPLES WAS USED TO OBTAIN…

This study was designed to investigate the concurrent validity of the San Diego Quick Assessment as a measure to establish instructional reading level. Criterion variables used were the Metropolitan Achievement Test: Word Knowledge, Reading, and composite score and the Gray Oral Reading Test. An additional concern was to assess the capacity of the…

This paper reports initial results in the development of an inventory to measure visual reading difficulties. The instrument, called the Word Preference Inventory (WPI), asks the subject to choose between pairs of stimulus pseudo-words the one most like a given target word. An analysis of responses to the WPI from 922 children in grades K-6 and…

Summative evaluation of Cycles R-40 of the Listen Look Learn (LLL) Multi-Media Communication Skills System was conducted in 1967-68, using 28 experimental (LLL system) and 28 control (variety of basal reading programs) classes of first-grade children. Testing included the use of the Metropolitan Readiness Tests; the Pintner-Cunningham Primary…

As part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading, this volume, "Theme 6: Main Ideas and Organization," directs attention to the fact that identifying the main idea of a passage or discovering its organization requires a higher level of comprehension than merely gleaning the important facts. Some of the exercises…

The Diagnostic Reading Tests were designed to assess the reading skills of college students enrolled in reading centers. To assess the reliability of the Diagnostic Reading Tests, Survey Section, Form E (DRTE), a study was conducted with university freshmen as subjects. The DRTE was administered to 31 students in an Educational Opportunity Program…

Results from 188 subjects indicate that most of the items on the test conform to a Rasch latent trait model, but tend to cluster into levels consistent with a hierarchical structure of skills. (AA)

Traces a major source of confusion in the literature on passage dependence and integrates the relevant concepts into a general theory of context dependence. Sample items and data illustrate practical applications of the theory. (AA)

Reports on a study that provides evidence of the validity of the cloze test as a measure of reading comprehension and its subskills as measured by a conventional standardized reading achievement test. (HOD)

Discusses issues in reading assessment, including the concern that tests can not measure the reading process. Concludes that tests will never be more than useful indicators; calls for more research and examination of existing and new types of reading comprehension tests. (MM)