Suggests how test consumers can improve the evaluation of students' reading performance by (1) carefully examining tests to match teaching objectives, (2) employing a wider variety of evaluation techniques, (3) abandoning the use of standardized reading tests as indicators of instructional reading level, and (4) interpreting subtest scores of…

The idea that some definite designation of a child's reading ability can be gained from a grade level or percentile score on a standardized test is rejected in favor of the idea that such a score is only an estimate of ability. Informal tests in which children read from passages varying in difficulty can give much helpful information to teachers.…

Three major points covered by this report are (1) What are the demands for reading assessment and how have the demands increased?; (2) How adequately do present standardized reading tests meet these demands?; and (3) What possible approaches exist for developing assessment procedures which meet these demands? An extreme interest in finding out how…

Responding to critics of testing, the author presents an argument in its favor--that testing is one of the ways in which a teacher may gather information necessary for student monitoring and instructional decision-making. (SJL)

The effects of test-item selection on total test reliability and validity were investigated. It was posited that in a reading comprehension test, the knowledge displayed by the examinees is of interest only as it is a valid measure of how much a student learned from reading or comprehending a stimulus paragraph. Selection of items solely on the…

This discussion of assessing students' reading abilities focuses on the need for developing better tests and better interpretation of test scores. Criterion-referenced tests versus norm-referenced tests are described, highlighting the Degrees of Reading Power and Metropolitan Achievement Tests: Reading, and the need for assessing the reading…

Compares twelfth-grade students' performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) with their performance on the Metropolitan Achievement Test 1: Reading Survey or the Degrees of Reading Power Test, concluding that the findings challenge the notion that low SAT scores indicate a lack of basic reading skills. (HOD)