The purposes of this research were to develop a new methodology for measuring comprehension and analyze individual differences in perceiving sentence difficulty. Written descriptions of commonly occurring visual scenes served as the stimuli in the new methodology. The reader's success in drawing a scene after viewing a written description of it…

This paper reports the results of a study conducted to examine the predictive validity of the Nelson-Denny Reading Test (NDRT) in the Virginia Community College System. Subjects were students at Blue Ridge Community College enrolled in English 101, 102, 111, 112, and Psychology 201, 202, or 203 during one academic year. The NDRT (Form A) was…

Reports on a study to determine whether students of Chinese read faster when the text is written in characters than when written in Romanization. Results show reading efficiency as determined by speed and errors in translation to be greater with Romanization, while there is more overall accuracy with characters. (CLK)

Suggests that verbal aptitude may be a factor that affects the degree of students' test wiseness and may vary with the reading test that is administered. (Author)

The use of directive cues to facilitate recall and clustering of verbal materials in good and poor readers is investigated. Overall results indicate strong and positive effects of directive cues on the subjects' recall and organization of memory, and indicate that poor readers are unadaptive learners who appear to have a performance deficit,…

Performance of norms group on Reading and Arithmetic subtests of WRAT was compared with that of a representative national sampling. Systematic differences were found between the two data sets, and effects of these differences on current norms were illustrated. Norms tend to underestimate subject's achievement level relative to general population.…

After reviewing the literature on functional literacy, proposes that new measures be developed and classified according to the practical information to be obtained and the decisions to be made from them. (AA)

Describes the competency-based approach to reading programs used in Maryland. (MKM)

Discusses the decisions made in the development of a functional literacy test used in Philadelphia. (MKM)

This article tackles the debate on general intelligence tests versus specific skills assessment as predictors of academic performance. In a Minneapolis study, a wide range of tests were given to 355 preschoolers. Results from a test assessing early reading skills more closely predicted actual third grade reading achievement than did results from…

Notes the problem that comprehension questions that claim to assess students' skills in finding main ideas may in fact be measuring their knowledge of identifying the topic of a passage. (JC)

Notes the weakness of comprehension assessment as it occurs in standardized tests and exercise books, and reports on a new approach which views reading as a constructive process that results from a complex set of interactions between reader and texts. (NH)

Presents a study which examines elementary school students' performance on the JAT (Joels, Anderson, and Thompson) Reading Inventory, noting variable student performance on the different question types. Reports that the validity of the JAT as a diagnostic instrument is established. (ARH)

Indicates that if the cloze scores of students in a small group are well distributed, then it is possible to identify which essays would be selected as best and worst by an English professor. Shows that cloze testing constitutes a relatively effective placement instrument when the readers are unschooled. Includes statistical tables. (JD)

A study correlating Nelson-Denny Reading Test scores with American College Testing Program Assessments (ACT) indicates that reading skill can be predicted accurately from the ACT social studies reading and English usage subtests. (MSE)