The 54-item inventory allows teachers to compare their understanding and knowledge of how to help secondary level students read social studies materials with the opinions of reading specialists and findings of reading researchers. (Author/KC)

An approach to assessing context dependence was applied to data from the Nelson-Denny Reading Test. The results suggest that scores on the difficult passages are inflated because the examinees can answer the questions without having to comprehend the passage. (MKM)

Suggests that reading comprehension is a special case of language comprehension; considers the effect of prior knowledge and experience on recall of meanings; points to the role of "scripts" (information accumulated about a situation, word, or concept) in reading comprehension; and outlines implications for teachers. (GT)

Examines the extent and direction of curriculum bias in standardized reading achievement tests by comparing the relative overlap in the contents of five separate reading achievement tests with the content of seven commercial reading series. (HOD)

Seven passages of a published reading comprehension test were administered to college students to compare the regular multiple choice test scores with scores on two forms of a cloze test and with readability formula values. (HOD)

The reading practices of four inmates were analyzed, showing very distinct approaches to reading. Standardized tests proved inadequate for assessing their learning needs. Other assessment formats such as miscue analysis and individualized instruction and materials were recommended. (SK)

Discusses several problems associated with standardized testing. Proposes possible solutions to these problems, and calls for a new perspective on testing which utilizes informal tests and teacher observations of reading behavior. (MM)

Summarizes key findings from five studies investigating how features of test questions (question format, testing condition, and question type) affect reading comprehension assessment outcomes. Discusses implications for assessment design and instructional practice. (MM)

In conjunction with testing mandates, some states have developed new measures intended to reflect changes in thinking about reading. Discusses, in dialogue form, whether these new measures support educational improvement or limit them. (BJV)

Describes computer software, including "The Electronic Bookshelf" and "Return to Reading," which provides motivation for recreational reading in various ways, including: quizzes, games based on books, and whole language activities for children's literature and young adult fiction. (MM)

A group of 10 less able fifth-grade readers with comparable scores on a standardized reading test were assessed under reading conditions representing different combinations of familiarity, text type, length, and mode of reading. Results indicated that the students did not perform similarly under a variety of reading conditions. (Author/JDD)

When commercially available tests failed to match their whole-language instructional practices, resource teachers in a Canadian school district developed their own instrument. Assembled over a five-year period, the Multi-Layered Assessment Package (MAP) is a set of procedures accompanied by suggested books, transcripts, and retelling and recording…

Reports on introspective and retrospective accounts from test takers, in an attempt to examine the validity of reading and test-taking "skills." It is noted that there are clearly certain skills or processes involved in answering test items in a particular format that are not necessarily specified by the test writer. (15 references) (GLR)

Analysis of the reading strategies used by Spanish-speaking students of English as a Second Language (ESL) for ESL reading comprehension tests and academic reading tasks revealed that students' knowledge of how to use a strategy effectively, rather than use of a specific strategy, led to more successful reading comprehension. (38 references) (CB)

Compares reading-disabled students' instructional levels yielded by the Ekwall Reading Inventory and the Metropolitan Achievement Test. Finds that both instruments provide instructional-level designations to help place students in appropriate materials but little correspondence between the instructional levels of the two measures. Suggests that…