Examines the extent to which retaining low achieving students affects the average reading scores of the grade in which they are retained and the next higher grade. Analyzes data from one elementary school in Kansas City (Missouri). (FMW)

The borderline group standard-setting method (BGSM), Nedelsky method (NM), and Angoff method (AM) were compared, using reading scores for 1,948 and mathematics scores for 2,191 sixth through ninth graders. The NM and AM were inconsistent with the BGSM. Passing scores were higher where students were more able. (SLD)

This study examined characteristics of multiple-choice reading comprehension tasks suspected of influencing their difficulty, through administration of the California Achievement Tests to 158 deaf college students. Problem components evaluated included manifest content, psychologically salient features, and processing demands. Variation in item…

This study examined the criterion-related validity of oral reading fluency (ORF), number of words read correctly per minute, with 64 regular, remedial, and special education elementary-level students. Comparison with two miscue-based assessment measures did not support modification of traditional ORF but did suggest practical value of selected…

Evaluation of literature-based and traditional basal reading series for sensitivity of repeated curriculum-based measurement with 48 third-grade students found that passage probes from the literature-based series were less sensitive to indexing growth over time than were passage probes from the traditional basal series. (Author/DB)

This study, involving 41 hearing foreign students, sought to determine the suitability of using the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to determine the English reading skills of deaf international college applicants. Results indicated that a TOEFL score between 400 and 500 correlated with a reading grade level of less than 8.0.…

Studied the ability of logical test design (LTD) to predict student performance in reading Roman numerals for 211 sixth graders in Mexico City tested on Roman numeral items varying on LTD-related and non-LTD-related variables. The LTD-related variable item iterativity was found to be the best predictor of item difficulty. (SLD)

The usefulness of the 1992 TSA in reading was studied using interviews from 26 state directors of assessment. Perceptions about TSA credibility and orientation of test components and current use of TSA results were examined. The directors suggested involving more teachers in assessment, modifying descriptors, disseminating results quicker, and…

Rubric-related and rubric-unrelated features used by teacher raters to assign scores to constructed response items for mathematics and reading assessment were studied by looking at 1000 papers from Kansas seventh and tenth graders. Results validated the influence of correctness of answer in both mathematics and reading holistic scores. (SLD)

A study involving 25 students (grades 3-5) with and without attentional deficits assessed generality to a standardized reading test when noninformational color was added to one of two alternate forms. Students with attentional deficits read as accurately as their classmates with color added and read worse in the black-white condition. (Contains…

Factors contributing to American students' declining scores on the TIMSS (Third International Mathematics and Science Study) between grades 4 and 8 include textbook size and U.S. educators' traditional views of middle-school years. Bad data probably invalidate claims about the grade 8 to 12 decline. International reading scores favor Americans.…

Fifty-nine English-as-a-foreign-language students in Saudi Arabia took a cohesion test in which they identified four types of cohesive ties in a reading text, including conjunction, reference, substitution, and ellipsis. Incorrect responses were analyzed. It was found that substitution was the most difficult cohesive tie to process. (Author/VWL)

Low-achieving second graders experienced a year of transactional strategies instruction (n=30) or highly regarded, more conventional second-grade reading instruction (n=30). The group receiving transactional strategies instruction had greater strategy awareness and use, greater acquisition of material read, and superior performance on standardized…

Results are presented from two studies involving 190 primary and high school students and 146 primary students with reading difficulties. These studies contributed toward the development of five 200 word standardized passages which may be employed interchangeably to monitor the performance of students with reading difficulties towards achieving…

Discusses what the term "High-Stakes Testing" means; concerns about high-stakes testing; whether testing is an important part of good educational design; why using tests for high-stakes decisions causes problems; whether test scores improve when high-stakes assessment is mandated; and ways to help states monitor student success in the curriculum.…