This handbook describes the responsibilities of district and school assessment coordinators in the administration of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). This updated guidebook contains the following sections: (1) General Assessment Guidelines for All Assessments; (2) Writing Specific Guidelines; (3) Reading and Mathematics…

Comprehension tests are often used interchangeably, suggesting an implicit assumption that they are all measuring the same thing. We examine the validity of this assumption by comparing some of the most popular reading comprehension measures used in research and clinical practice in the United States: the Gray Oral Reading Test (GORT), the two…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 21 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effects of modality-based instruction in test taking skills upon young children's performance on standardized reading tests; (2) the effects of five…

This study investigated the relationship between and among the results of three types of reading assessments in the first grade: a standardized reading test (the Stanford Achievement Tests); an informal reading inventory (the Classroom Reading Inventory); and teacher judgment of student rank in reading achievement. The study included 165 first…

This study examined the criterion-related validity of oral reading fluency (ORF), number of words read correctly per minute, with 64 regular, remedial, and special education elementary-level students. Comparison with two miscue-based assessment measures did not support modification of traditional ORF but did suggest practical value of selected…

This study of 121 10th-grade students investigated the criterion-related validity of 2 potential curriculum-based measurements, reading from text and identifying vocabulary meaning, for predicting student performance on content-area study tasks. Correlational and multiple regression techniques found the vocabulary measure to be the stronger…

The paper outlines the rationale and development of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) and its empirical support; summarizes two reading models (Chall's stages of reading development and LaBerge and Samuels' model of automaticity); and discusses how CBM, with its use of oral reading rate measures, and the reading models may validate each other.…

This paper describes adult literacy pedagogy and philosophy in Australia and reports on two studies of adult reading disabilities. The first study, with 102 asthma patients, showed important differences among different tests of reading comprehension. The second study, using 11 case studies, indicated the need to integrate adult literacy…

Criterion-related validity data are presented on 3 methods for assessing reading comprehension, based on 26 learning-disabled middle school students. The standard cloze test and multiple-choice cloze test produced moderate correlations, although the traditional scoring method was considered inappropriate. The story retell procedures demonstrated…

This study of curriculum-based assessment of the reading ability of four elementary-level students with learning disabilities found that individual-referenced tests are powerful for understanding instructional effects, whereas norm-referenced tests are best suited for determining deployment and allocation of resources. (DB)

The comparative effects of instruction in self-questioning, summarizing, and question-answer relations on reading comprehension test performance were studied with 49 juniors and seniors enrolled in a remedial reading course at Georgia State University. The objective was to find a method to help students pass a statewide college reading exit…

The study of curriculum-based measurement (CBM), involving 57 adults in a basic literacy program, found that narrative rather than expository passages exhibited higher reliability. Level of difficulty did not affect reliability. Validity data showed inconsistency between CBM and standardized test scores. The measures were sensitive to student…

Adult literacy programs need reliable information about program quality and effectiveness for accountability, improvement of practice, and expansion of knowledge. Evaluation and assessment reflect fundamental beliefs about adult learners, concepts of literacy, and educational settings. Resources for planning program evaluations include surveys,…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 18 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) predicting kindergarten children's success with specific reading methods using group readiness tests; (2) the types of discourse included in basal reading…