The Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised and the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised were administered twice to 269 current drug abusers over an average time interval of 204.2 days. Overall, the study demonstrates that the two instruments have strong psychometric properties and that results from current drug abusers are reliable. (SLD)

Investigates dissociation between phonological and orthographic processes in reading with third graders. Finds that poor readers differed from skilled readers in how phonological and orthographic factors were balanced--relationship was strong among poor readers, low among skilled readers. Finds that phonological factors played a strong role…

In the approach to latent trait models for pure speed tests presented in this article, the subject parameters are treated as random variables with a common gamma distribution, and marginal maximum likelihood estimators are derived for the test difficulties and the parameters of the latent subject distribution. An application of this model to…

Studied the effects of items, passages, contents, themes, and types of passages on the reliability and standard errors of measurement for complex reading comprehension tests using seven different generalizability theory models. Results suggest that passages and themes should be taken into account when evaluating the reliability of test scores for…

Investigates the effects of a classroom reading program in which students who passed pretests on basal skills were excused from subsequent instruction and practice on those skills. Finds that most students were able to pass pretests on reading skills before the skills were covered in the basal reading program. (RS)

Presents 19 annotated items from the ERIC database (from 1987 to 1990) on the topic of reading assessment. (SR)

This study established criterion-related validity for the Reading Passages Subtest of a locally developed curriculum-based measurement (CBM) instrument, with cross-validation across reading curricula and criterion measures. Correlations of 479 primary grade students' reading scores on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills provided support for CBM…

Describes a dozen ways in which reading tests are at variance in their demands with the demands of reading as it occurs in everyday life. Suggests that these sources of variance render reading tests considerably less valid as measures of real world reading behavior than most people want to believe. (RS)

This study evaluated the technical qualities of a naturalistic test of reading decoding skills, the"Diagnostic Names Task." Evaluation of the measure with 25 elementary grade disabled readers examined subtest reliability, sensitivity to change resulting from instruction, meaningful clustering of subskills, and criterion-related validity.…

The study, with 16 learning-disabled and 15 normally achieving college students, found a significant difference on reading comprehension scores between groups under timed conditions but no significant differences in test performance when both groups were provided extra time. (Author/DB)

Three issues in the debate over reading are (1) choice of instructional materials; (2) methods of teaching and testing; and (3) national standards for reading. Advocates a rational approach that recognizes limitations of tests to assess reading attainment and uses social dimensions and links with other language modes. (SK)

Examines significant changes in the assessment of adolescents who struggle with reading (beginning in the early 1900s with the beginning of test development and the problem of what to do with adolescents who were poor readers). Discusses the broader improvements in educational assessment in general. (SR)

A reading proficiency test administered to 200 adult learners in India resulted in an average score of only 38%. Gender, caste, income, and occupation were significant factors in the level of reading proficiency. (SK)

Studied the factorial invariance of scores from male and female students when reading comprehension was assessed with narrative and expository passages related to war and military content. Narrative and expository item factor loadings and intercepts were invariant for both genders, a finding that supports the use of passages about war for reading…

In state legislatures and school boards around the country, the approach and the quality of reading instruction are under attack because of a decline in reading scores. The best reading instruction draws on the strengths of different philosophies. School boards should encourage schools to teach both phonics and the whole-language approach. (MLF)