Recent studies indicate that examiners make a number of intentional and unintentional errors when administering reading assessments to students. Because these errors introduce construct-irrelevant variance in scores, the fidelity of test administrations could influence the results of evaluation studies. To determine how assessment fidelity is…

Notes that while across large groups of students two tests may be highly correlated, specific characteristics of tests may interact with specific characteristics of students to yield differences in scores for one individual on two or more tests. (FL)

A review of public demand for accountability uncovers three types of educational assessment problems: demand for valid reading measures, need for a broader range of assessments, and value of assessments for various audiences. Integration of the various types of assessments is recommended. (SK)

Standardized reading tests are likely to provide an inaccurate assessment of reading comprehension for deaf students due to the lack of test coaching and test taking skills; item irrelevancy; and the difficulty of test directions. Testing alternatives include parent and teacher observation of students and qualitative evaluations of reading skills…

Intended to help educators select diagnostic and criterion referenced reading tests for their specific purposes, this book contains reviews of nine individual and three group tests. The reviewed tests were selected for their "importance" from a list of 34 and were reviewed by experts according to their descriptions of content, test development,…

The 1978 New York City Test Report indicates that forty-three percent of those tested in that year in the City's public schools are reading at or above grade level. These results, however, when summarized in this way, are meaningless. The graph prepared for this article traces the reading levels of the school system and its 32 districts for…

Reviews four uses for norm-referenced tests of reading comprehension. Concludes that three of the uses are actually misuses and that the only appropriate use is for predicting future student performance. (FL)

Details the steps followed in the development of the Basic Skills Word List. (FL)

Argues that giving students a reading test that is above or below their levels of achievement will yield inaccurate information. (FL)

Finds the revised Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test an improvement over the original edition. (AEA)

Defining calibration of comprehension as the correlation between subjective assessments of knowledge gained from reading and performance on an objective test, this paper draws from literature, as well as the findings of original experiments, to examine issues related to the subject . The paper first documents the claim that poor calibration is the…

The Nelson Denny Reading Test (NDRT) is probably the most widely used test of reading comprehension at the college level in the nation. However, reviews of the test, as well as recent reports of its failure to adequately measure gain or lack of gain of college students enrolled in reading improvement courses, do not support the popularity it has…

A behavioral domain is well-defined when it is clear to both test developers and test users which categories of performance should or should not be considered for potential test items. Only those tests that are keyed to well-defined domains meet the definition of criterion-referenced tests. The greatest proliferation of criterion-referenced tests…

Illustrates the importance of carefully interpreting reading test results. (JT)

Noting the growing interest in recent years in the use of mentalistic measures in studying the reading process, this paper draws upon findings of studies conducted at the Hebrew University in Israel to show how mentalistic measures have been used effectively in reading research. Following a discussion of the unique role mentalistic data can play…