This study examined whether and to what extent the characteristics of mental models derived from the identical text, which is known to produce a certain type of mental model, are influenced if the subjects are given different task expectations before the reading session. Seventy-one undergraduates read one of the two text genres, descriptive or…

This paper summarizes an investigation of the format used for equating the 1993 Illinois Goal Assessment Program (IGAP) sixth grade reading test. In 1992, each student took only one test, either a narrative test or an expository test. In 1993, there was only one test, which included both formats. Several possible approaches for linking the 1993…

To investigate the causes of variation in cloze-comprehension test correlations, a reanalysis was conducted of the influential J.R. Bormuth study (1962), which reported correlations between nine cloze and nine comprehension tests administered to 50 subjects in grades 4, 5, and 6. Two separate renalayses were completed in the present study, the…

A study was conducted at St. Louis Community College to validate the Nelson-Denny Reading Test (NDRT), Form C, as an instrument for student placement, to empirically establish a cutoff score for a mandatory reading improvement program, and to provide more complete and meaningful feedback to students about their reading test results. The study…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of creating a short form of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) for use in a clinical setting with disabled readers. The subjects were 100 clients ages six to sixteen of the Belser-Parton Reading Center at the University of Alabama whose files contained scores…

This study demonstrated that 49 teen-age high school tutors, under the guidance and assistance of competent reading consultants, could bring about gains in the reading achievement of 215 elementary school children reading at least one year below their grade level. (CS)

This paper extends the theory of conditional covariances to polytomous items. It has been mathematically proven that under some mild conditions, commonly assumed in the analysis of response data, the conditional covariance of two items, dichotomously or polytomously scored, is positive if the two items are dimensionally homogeneous and negative…

Research on military reading abilities has shown a direct relationship between reading ability and training and job performance. The objectives of this study of the development of a reading scale were to: (1) measure the reading ability of military applicants using six commonly used reading tests; (2) use the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude…

Using a test-retest research design, a study examined the reliability of the Classroom Reading Inventory (CRI) and the Ekwall Reading Inventory (ERI). Independent variables of test administrator to subject, test administrator to test, subject to test, and test order were randomized. Subjects included 31 children aged 7 through 12 years. The four…

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data show that children in grades 4, 8, and 11 whose mothers work outside the home read better than children whose mothers do not work outside the home--but the difference is small. This conclusion represents one segment of the findings of the 1983-84 National Assessment, which focused on reading…

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 School Mastery of Reading Test (SMRT) program was designed to give administrators and teachers information about reading performance and recommendations for improving the instructional program. The project includes development of a valid and reliable reading test based on the New York City curriculum in order to assess the potential linkage…

A Harding School (Worthington, Ohio) population of 77 adolescent patients, ages 12 to 17, were administered the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests and the Key Math Diagnostic Arithmetic Tests. Averages were calculated for the length of hospitalization, age at admission, full scale intelligence quotient (IQ), average grade equivalent gain for the total…

The Fairview Reading Curriculum Based Assessment (CBA), which was used in a cross categorical elementary school resource program at Fairview Elementary School in Darien, Illinois, is described. The test measures oral reading accuracy, rate and comprehension on passages taken directly from the two basal reading series used in the school. As the…

Thirty-two children aged 7 to 12 participated in a study to determine the reliability of the Ekwall Reading Inventory (ERI) and the Classroom Reading Inventory (CRI). The children were randomly assigned to take one of the two inventories, which were administered by four different specially trained teachers. The study used a test-retest design, in…