Studied beyond students' failing scores on a state reading assessment to investigate the needs of struggling students and implications for policy. Results for 108 students in 17 elementary schools suggest that scores on state tests mask distinctive and multifaceted patterns of students'reading abilities that require dramatically different…

A study examined test-retest reliability, practice effects, and relations among normed measures of word identification and spelling and experimental measures of achievement and reading-related cognitive processing in 78 children (ages 6-8) with reading disabilities. There were strong relations between normed measures of decoding and spelling and…

Reviews materials from Multiscore, a criterion-referenced testing service which produces tests tailored to particular schools or districts from its item bank of more than 20,000 multiple-choice items. Discusses technical considerations, use of Multiscore in local school districts, and evaluation and conclusions. (SR)

Reports on a study of metacognitive strategy training for reading in English as a Second Language. The study indicated that such training was effective in enhancing second language reading, although the measured effectiveness of training was influenced by the way reading was measured and differences in students' learning styles. (62 references)…

Use of Sentence Verification Technique (SVT) reading comprehension tests as general and specific predictors of learning performance in college courses was studied in experiments with 119 and 138 students attending Westfield State College (Massachusetts). Results suggest that appropriate SVT tests can predict general performance and performance in…

A survey of 1,021 human resource managers found that 35.5 percent test job applicants, promotion candidates, and/or current employees; 22 percent of applicants and 15 percent of employees tested deficient in basic skills; and only 5 respondents spent more than $10,000 on remedial training. (SK)

Addresses the need to include all available data (physical, environmental, language, cognitive, affective, and educational correlates of reading) to evaluate students' reading strengths and weaknesses. Argues that this holistic approach makes the assessment of reading skills efficient and avoids test replication. (RS)

Presents findings from an experiment that sought to determine the minimal number of blanks required to ensure parallelism in cloze tests, differing only in the point at which deletion starts. Results showed the required minimum depended on the scoring methods used, with exact-word tests requiring about 100 blanks and acceptable-word tests…

Findings from a longitudinal study of 35 school-aged children indicate that a statistically significant and moderately large correlation exists between preschool concepts about the purpose of literacy activities and subsequent success in reading acquisition. (IAH)

Describes how a middle school remedial reading teacher (who has only 20-minute teaching periods) uses tests to teach both reading and test-taking skills during a single lesson. (SR)

Determines whether three groups of readers (normally achieving, poor comprehenders, and reading disabled) differed in their ability to cope with reading comprehension task demands. Finds that the groups differed with respect to their performance on specific question-answer types and their standardized reading comprehension scores. Suggests that…

This study assessed the effects of curriculum on technical features (criterion validity and developmental growth rates) within curriculum-based measurement in reading with 91 elementary level handicapped and nonhandicapped students. Correlations between oral reading samples and reading comprehension as well as developmental growth rates were…

Surveys the status of statewide reading assessment practices in the United States. Finds that the typical state uses an existing national standardized test or its own local standardized version and that only 10 percent of states are on the cutting edge of reading evaluation. Suggests that, at the statewide level, reading assessment has not kept…

Explores what is meant by reading, noting that to read is to respond appropriately to a specific consensus centered on certain values and that the consensus is achieved among persons whose paths through life have come together with members of dominant discourses in society. (SLD)

Presents critical analysis of an earlier article, and argues that, although the validity of the High/Low distinction is questionable, it is possible for practical testing purposes to obtain reliable judgments from properly selected and trained judges. (seven references) (GLR)