Six papers are included in this collection. "How Misconceptions about Language Affect Judgments about Intelligence," by Roger W. Shuy, and "The Cultural Context of Learning to Read," by R. P. McDermott, deal with contexts in which evaluation of a student's reading are made: a teacher's direct evaluation of a student's reading performance, and a…

This two-part guide was designed to serve as a comprehensive source of information on published reading tests. Part I provides the following descriptive information about each test: (1) the name as listed on the front cover of the test booklet, (2) the publisher's suggested grade or age level for test use, (3) the type of test-individual or group,…

A study ascertained the degree of relationships between scores on each of various reading subskills and overall reading success. Reading subskills were measured by locally developed reading skills tests. Overall reading success was measured by the reading subtest of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). In each of three southern Indiana school…

Despite widely-held beliefs to the contrary, three different sources of research data prove that children in the 1990s read better on the average than either their father's generation or their grandfather's generation. "Then and Now" studies indicate that students read better now than decades ago. Restandardization of test norms also…

One of 10 reports commissioned by the National Academy of Education, this report investigates topics related to an assessment program piloted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) designed to support state-by-state and state-to-nation comparisons of student performance in reading. The report focuses on three issues: (1) the…

A study compared the reading placement levels of Chapter 1 students as indicated by dynamic and static assessment models to determine whether these students could benefit from basal instruction at a higher level of difficulty than would normally be indicated by static assessment. Subjects, 21 third grade Chapter 1 students, received treatment…

Reading comprehension, viewed from a psycholinguistic perspective, is a process of mapping new information into existing knowledge structures and is similar to general thinking, reasoning, and problem solving. Reading comprehension is an active process--a dialogue between writer and reader--and an integration of the printed page and the reader's…

Conforming to the U.S. Department of Education's Chapter 1 Evaluation and Reporting System which requires local education agencies to report periodically on the sustained effects of participation in Chapter 1 programs, a sustained effects study evaluated student performance in New York City's Chapter 1 English-language reading programs during the…

The third in a series of studies to assess the reading achievement of Indiana students, a study compared the reading achievement of sixth and tenth graders in 1944-45, 1976, and 1986. The same edition of the Iowa Silent Reading Test (ISRT) was administered to sixth- and tenth-graders in 1944-45, 1976, and 1986. The 1944-45 sample consisted of 25%…

Despite a significant increase in test usage, numerous issues surrounding reading assessment remain unresolved. Construct validity--whether the test actually measures aspects of the behavior under consideration--is of particular importance if one is to rely on test scores to direct instruction, predict performance, or determine accountability. A…

To determine whether mastery of one reading comprehension task is a prerequisite to mastery of two or more reading comprehension tasks, a study examined the prerequisite relations existing in the item responses elicited from a sample of sixth grade students who took the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, Form G, Level 12 reading comprehension test. Test…

This paper addresses practical Army problems in reading assessment from a theory base reflecting the most recent research on reading comprehension. Military and occupational research shows that reading proficiency is related to job performance. Reading assessment is a key issue in the Army due to changes in the reading ability levels of the Army…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate seven reading comprehension tests according to the construct of comprehension which they claimed to measure. The 367 items from these tests were classified by two judges according to the following four levels indicated on a reading comprehension taxonomy: recognition and recall, inference, evaluation, and…

A total of 94 ninth and tenth grade students participated in a study to determine which of the following six reading expectancy formulas predict actual reading achievement of secondary school students of average intelligence: the Dechant formula, the Harris I formula, the Science Research Associates'"Tests of General Ability," the Harris II…

Stanford Diagnostic Reading Tests and The Wide Range Achievement Tests were administered to 307 second, fourth, and sixth grade students to study the reading subskills of blacks, Latinos, and Asians/whites. An analysis of variance tested main effects of ethnicity, reading levels (good, average, and poor), and interaction effects. Main effects of…