Discussion of informal reading assessment procedures provides middle school teachers with several basic techniques for securing and using assessment data to implement an effective instructional program. (11 references) (MLF)

Preliminary criteria are presented to consider in the writing of English for academic purposes (EAP) reading comprehension tests. The criteria pertain to the test as a whole as well as to the form of individual questions. A checklist is appended. (42 references) (Author/LB)

Although the New York State reading assessment was aimed at identifying children with extra educational needs, one study shows that the current high-stakes nature of the tests has distorted that intent. Rather than rewarding instructional quality, state accountability profiles often reward questionable instructional practices such as retention in…

Focusing on the relationship between performance on reading tests and dictionary use, this study confirms a previous finding that dictionary availability does not significantly affect test scores; it does, however, lengthen test completion time. The authors discuss experimental conditions, test item types, usability of particular dictionary types,…

The aim of the present study was to develop a model for a criterion-referenced mastery reading comprehension test for university English-as-a-foreign-language courses. The research confirmed the hypothesized relationship between learners' needs, reading tasks, course content and their cumulative contribution to the formulation of the criteria of a…

The Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests assess reading ability in individuals from kindergarten to adulthood. The test battery is designed for use in clinical assessment and diagnosis, program planning, student selection and placement, appraisal of student progress, and other uses. This paper describes the test battery's administration, scoring,…

Examined the relationship between oral language and literacy in a two-year, multivariate design. Through empirical cluster analysis of a sample of 88 kindergarten children, four oral language subtypes were identified based on measures of semantics, syntax, metalinguistics, and oral narration. (Author/VWL)

This review of research on testing of second-language reading addresses: general areas of interest in reading research, assessment; adaptation of a suitable first-language reading comprehension model for second-language assessment; reliance on a top-down model of reading comprehension; validity of multiple-choice reading comprehension tests;…

A table was produced to facilitate comparisons among standard scores on the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised, in order to assist diagnosticians in determining intraindividual strengths and weaknesses, and thus contribute to instructional planning. (DB)

Studied the factorial invariance of a seventh grade reading assessment across groups of 600 general education and 1,128 limited English proficient students. Fit statistics generally supported invariance across all groups for factor loadings and intercepts, but invariance was not supported for the error variances. (SLD)

Research indicates that both home literacy activities and direct instruction of reading skills promote reading development. The current study investigates how parent-led direct teaching activities impact emergent literacy. Preschool children (n = 47) were administered subtests from the Test of Early Reading Ability-3 and the Kaufman Survey of…

A generation of reform measures in the Southeastern states appears to be paying off in higher student achievement, as measured by "the nation's report card." Nine- and 13-year-olds from that region, in fact, posted the highest gains in both reading and mathematics on the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)…

This study explores emerging lexical processes that may be the foundation for children's acquisition of morphological knowledge and the relation of these processes to reading comprehension. First and third graders were given two tasks involving lexical analysis of morphologically complex words. Two years later, they were given a measure of…

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if cognitive style (field dependence/independence [FD/I]) and gender interact with passage content to affect reading comprehension. Research on FD/I and its relationship to reading-related and other academic tasks served as the theoretical and empirical basis for the study. While most of the…

The results of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2001 (PIRLS) were reported in 2003. In addition to data about the reading achievements of 10-year-olds in 35 countries, the study also collected questionnaire information from children, their teachers, headteachers and parents. One aspect of the data that attracted comment in the…