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…

Whether knowledge of cognition affects regulation of cognition was studied with 115 college students assigned to differing levels of self-monitoring ability. Results suggest that most college students possess metacognitive knowledge about their learning, although many do not use this to improve their regulation of test performance. (SLD)

Examines phonemic-awareness ability of reading-disabled children and normally-achieving children in both a traditional design and a pseudoword reading-level-match design. Results show that a group of reading-disabled children who show typical pseudoword reading and phonemic-awareness deficits in the traditional reading-level-match design…

Assesses the effects of curriculum on technical features of survey-level curriculum-based measurement (CBM) in reading. Results indicate that correlation between survey-level CBM and reading comprehension is similar regardless of material used for assessment. Also, developmental fluency rates are similar. Results support the use of CBM…

Redesigned five displays for communicating results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1994 reading assessment using principles developed by H. Wainer (1997). Responses from 10 educators show more accurate and faster responses to questions asked after the redesign. Discusses implications for information communication in…

Addresses issues surrounding the effect of mode of presentation on second language (L2) reading test performance, reviewing the literature in cognitive ability testing in educational and psychological measurement and the non-assessment literature in ergonomics, education, psychology, and first language reading research. Generalization of the…

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between reading achievement and parental involvement for sixth grade middle school students. The participants were forty-eight sixth grade students who completed parental involvement surveys. The parents of these students also completed a parental involvement survey. The results of the…