Recently, educational researchers and practitioners have turned to value-added models to evaluate teacher performance. Although value-added estimates depend on the assessment used to measure student achievement, the importance of outcome selection has received scant attention in the literature. Using data from a large, urban school district, I…

Discusses passage content and style, accessibility of the passages, their completeness, the extent to which the items are passage-dependent, and the extent to which additional knowledge is required to answer the questions on reading comprehension tests and exercises. (TO)

Describes a school board's decision to employ a standardized reading proficiency test despite the fact that the test was proven to be passage independent and thus did not measure reading comprehension. (DD)

Reports a study of children's responses to a passage-dependent reading comprehension test. (HTH)

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

Four conceptually different variables in reading: (1) knowledge gained (new information), (2) amount comprehended (degree of understanding), (3) reading aptitude (differences between individuals), and (4) reading improvement (within individual changes as a result of treatment) are discussed. Existing measures of reading comprehension are evaluated…

Reviews the strengths and weaknesses of 5 representative standardized reading tests and 7 informal methods for testing reading. Lists 10 considerations to help in the selection, evaluation, and use of reading tests. (DMM)

Characteristics which should be considered in reviewing any standardized reading test include validity, reliability, standardization sample, areas assessed by the test, type of response required by the child, individual versus group administration, time needed for administration, availability of equivalent forms, scoring options available,…

A study was conducted at Cuyahoga Community College to test the relationship between student scores on timed and untimed reading comprehension and vocabulary tests, and to investigate the relationship between those scores and intelligence. The study sample included 72 students enrolled in classes at developmental, freshman, and sophomore levels.…

When selecting standardized reading tests for purposes of decision making, the school psychologist must answer several questions, such as "What reading skills do I wish to assess?" or "How do I judge if the test is technically adequate?" Recommendations for test selection are made within the context of these questions.…

Use of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests (WRMT), individually administered wide ranging reading tests, was explored, using Title I evaluation Models A1 and A2. Attention was focused on: (1) relationship of the Title I curriculum to the WRMT and the SRA Reading Test; (2) comparative reading achievement gains on both tests, using Model A1; and (3)…

This bibliography includes most publications on the theory and practice of foreign language testing which have appeared since 1950. It does not include those referring to testing in the mother tongue. Parts 1 and 2 include other bibliographies on testing and a short selection of published tests which embody recent techniques. Part 3--the main…

When a child takes a standardized test measuring ability or achievement, the results of that test may well determine the kind of education he is going to get. When school personnel select certain tests, administer them, and assign students to groups according to their scores on these tests, are they doing it in such a way that the end results are…

This report is the final one in a trilogy stemming from the 1968 Summer Reading Institute in the Washington Model School Division. The Institute was designed to meet the needs of elementary school teachers in their attempts to teach language skills and reading to students in grades K-3. This follow-up study examines the results of the Summer…