Standardized Reading Comprehension Research Articles

Adults with poor reading skills: How lexical knowledge interacts with scores on standardized reading comprehension tests

Millions of adults in the United States lack the necessary literacy skills for most living wage jobs. For students from adult learning classes, we used a lexical decision task to measure their knowledge of words and we used a decision-making model (Ratcliff’s, 1978, diffusion model) to abstract the mechanisms underlying their performance from their RTs and accuracy. We also collected scores for each participant on standardized IQ tests and standardized reading tests used commonly in the education literature. We found significant correlations between the model’s estimates of the strengths with which words are represented in memory and scores for some of the standardized tests but not others. The findings point to the feasibility and utility of combining a test of word knowledge, lexical decision, that is well-established in psycholinguistic research, a decision-making model that supplies information about underlying mechanisms, and standardized tests. The goal for future research is to use this combination of approaches to understand better how basic processes relate to standardized tests with the eventual aim of understanding what these tests are measuring and what the specific difficulties are for individual, low-literacy adults.

Enriched School Libraries

We compared students from schools with an enriched school library—that is, one with a larger and more up-to-date book collection—with students from schools with a typical school library. We tested effects of an enriched school library on reading motivation, reading frequency, and academic skills. Fourth- and fifth-grade students of 14 schools with an enriched library ( n = 272) were compared to fourth and fifth graders from 10 control schools ( n = 411). Assignment to the experimental group was external and not determined by participants within schools. Students from schools with enriched libraries scored on average half a standard deviation higher on a standardized reading comprehension test than students from control schools. Mediation analysis revealed that for girls, this effect may have been obtained as a result of an increase in reading motivation and reading frequency. For boys, only reading frequency was a significant mediator.

The efficacy of Collaborative Strategic Reading in middle school science and social studies classes

This study investigated the efficacy of a multi-component reading comprehension instructional approach, Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR), compared to business-as-usual instructional methods with 19 teachers and 1074 students in middle school social studies and science classrooms in a large urban district. Researchers collaborated with school personnel to provide teachers with ongoing professional development and classroom support. Using an experimental design, teachers’ classrooms were assigned either to CSR or to a business-as-usual comparison condition. Multi-level analyses showed that students receiving CSR instruction scored higher on a standardized reading comprehension assessment compared to their peers in comparison classrooms (g = 0.18, p < 0.05). While implementation varied across classrooms, students in the CSR condition were observed using CSR strategies and working together in small groups. Teachers attended to the quality of student work and provided more feedback when teaching CSR. CSR is an effective method to improve the reading comprehension of adolescents and to increase their access to complex informational text.

Beyond Vocabulary: Exploring Cross-Disciplinary Academic-Language Proficiency and Its Association With Reading Comprehension

Despite a longstanding awareness of academic language as a pedagogically relevant research area, the construct of academic language proficiency, understood as a more comprehensive set of skills than just academic vocabulary, has remained vaguely specified. In this study, we explore a more inclusive operationalization of an academic language proficiency construct, Core Academic Language Skills (CALS). CALS refers to a constellation of high-utility language skills hypothesized to support reading comprehension across school content areas. Using the CALS-I, a theoretically grounded and psychometrically robust innovative instrument, we first examined the variability in students' CALS by grade, English proficiency designation, and socioeconomic status (SES). Then, we examined the contribution of CALS to reading comprehension using academic vocabulary knowledge, word reading fluency, and socio- demographic factors as covariates. A linguistically and socioeconomically diverse cross- sectional sample of 218 students (grades 4-6) participated in four assessments: the CALS-I, a standardized reading comprehension assessment (GMRT), an academic vocabulary test (VAT), and a word reading fluency test (TOSWRF). GLM analysis of variance revealed that CALS differed significantly by grade, English proficiency designation, and SES, with students in higher grades, English proficient students, and those from higher SES backgrounds displaying higher scores, on average. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses identified CALS as an independent predictor of reading comprehension, even after controlling for academic vocabulary knowledge, word reading fluency, and socio-demographic factors. By specifying a set of language skills associated with reading comprehension, this study advances our understanding of school- relevant language skills, making them more visible for researchers and educators. ACADEMIC LANGUAGE & READING COMPREHENSION 3 Beyond vocabulary: Exploring cross-disciplinary academic language proficiency and its association with reading comprehension

The Relationship between Explicit Teaching of Grammatical Structures and Iranian High School Students’ Performance in Reading Comprehension

This study examines the relationships between explicit teaching of grammatical structures and reading comprehension. The significance of this study lies in the possibility that knowledge of text structure may create connections among the disciplines which could enhance understanding of content and promote thinking and reading comprehension abilities. After administering a standardized reading comprehension test, a group of 64 high school students were selected from a total population of 84.The selected subjects were randomaly assigned to experimental and control groups. For the experimental group, the researcher held a treatment which lasted for 4 weeks, two 90 minute sessions per week. During the experiment both groups had the same instructor, curriculum, and schedule of instruction, except that in control group the students had conventional learning, that is they worked just with the reading passages without any explicit instruction or without any awareness- by being undelined - about the types of structures which were the target structure of the researcher- adjective clauses, gerunds, and infinitives-, while for the experimental group, they received explicit instruction and awareness about the types of structures which were the target structure of the researcher. At the end of the study, the obtained scores on the pre- and post-tests were analyzed through different statistical procedures. The results showed that being aware about sentence structures and the explicit teaching of grammatical structures had a significant effect on improving Iranian high school students’ reading comprehension performance. The results, also indicated that significant relationships exist among the variables of sentence-structure recognition and reading comprehension. The associations support the theory that students may use sentence structure to improve thinking and reading comprehension processes.This association provides educators with a potentially powerful way to structure instruction.

An Exploratory Study of Reading Comprehension in College Students After Acquired Brain Injury.

This exploratory study builds on the small body of existing research investigating reading comprehension deficits in college students with acquired brain injury (ABI). Twenty-four community college students with ABI completed a battery of questionnaires and standardized tests to characterize self-perceptions of academic reading ability, performance on a standardized reading comprehension measure, and a variety of cognitive functions of this population. Half of the participants in the sample reported traumatic brain injury (n = 12) and half reported nontraumatic ABI (n = 12). College students with both traumatic and nontraumatic ABI cite problems with reading comprehension and academic performance postinjury. Mean performance on a standardized reading measure, the Nelson-Denny Reading Test (Brown, Fischo, & Hanna, 1993), was low to below average and was significantly correlated with performance on the Speed and Capacity of Language Processing Test (Baddeley, Emslie, & Nimmo-Smith, 1992). Injury status of traumatic versus nontraumatic ABI did not differentiate results. Regression analysis showed that measures of verbal attention and suppression obtained from the California Verbal Language Test-II (Delis, Kramer, Kaplan, & Ober, 2000) predicted total scores on the Nelson-Denny Reading Test. College students with ABI are vulnerable to reading comprehension problems. Results align with other research suggesting that verbal attention and suppression problems may be contributing factors.

Examining Associations Between Reading Motivation and Inference Generation Beyond Reading Comprehension Skill

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between reading motivation and inference generation while reading. Undergraduate participants (N = 69) read two science articles while thinking aloud, completed a standardized reading comprehension assessment, and self reported their habitual reading motivation. Findings indicate that overall reading motivation, one component of intrinsic motivation (reading as a sense of self), and one component of extrinsic motivation (reading to do well in other realms) were positively associated with text-connecting inference generation independent of reading comprehension skill. These findings are discussed in the context of standards of coherence.

Improving Reading Comprehension and Social Studies Knowledge Among Middle School Students With Disabilities

This study aimed to determine the efficacy of a content knowledge and reading comprehension treatment implemented by eighth-grade general education social studies teachers among students with disabilities included in the classes. Data on students with disabilities across 2 years of study were combined for the analysis presented here. Students in the treatment conditions ( n = 72) scored statistically higher than students in the comparison conditions ( n = 58) on knowledge acquisition (effect size [ES] = .26) and content reading comprehension (ES = .34) but not standardized reading comprehension. Findings are interpreted as demonstrating support for the treatment in improving both knowledge acquisition and reading comprehension within content area instruction among students with disabilities served in the general education social studies classroom.

How and How Not to Prepare Students for the New Tests

Abstract“Data‐driven school reform” emphasizes the idea that if teachers analyze the kinds of questions students miss on standardized reading comprehension tests, and then give students lots of practice with such items, they will end up with higher test scores. This approach is likely to be popular with the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC; http://www.parcconline.org) and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC; http://www.smarterbalanced.org) tests given their innovative item designs. However, research shows that reading comprehension tests do not measure these question‐answering skills, but instead estimate how well students can read particular kinds of texts with understanding. PARCC and SBAC are pointedly avoiding making claims that their assessments will reveal whether students are meeting particular standards, but instead provide an overall estimate of reading comprehension. Various alternative approaches to improving achievement on these new tests are recommended.

The Effect of Syntactic Simplicity and Complexity on the Readability of the Text

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of syntactic simplicity and complexity on the readability of the text. To achieve this, a set of standard reading comprehension passages were syntactically modified to develop three different versions of the same text (i.e., reduced, original, expanded) at different readability levels. A number of 257 senior Iranian EFL students participated in the study. The participants were divided into three proficiency levels of high, mid, and low, each taking the three different versions of the same text. The results revealed that there was no significant difference among the high proficient students' performance on the three versions. However, there were significant differences among the mid and low proficient students' performance on these versions. The results, therefore, indicate that syntactic complexity may create comprehension problems for mid and low proficient students, but not for high proficient ones. The results of this study can be useful for language teachers, syllabus designers and test developers in selecting suitable texts matched to the learners' ability level.

A study of print and computer-based reading to measure and compare rates of comprehension and retention

Purpose – This paper aims to observe, measure and record comparative cognitive processes in print and online to explain the differences, if any, in the readers’ information-gathering processes and their subsequent comprehension and retention of information. It also examined the strategies that readers adopt that differ from print when reading online. Standardized reading comprehension scores were also collected. The results indicated that the participants demonstrated functional equivalency in both media, but they had a preference for print. The linear individualistic mentality learned through print gave the study group participants the skills to successfully navigate through the dense web of information that constitutes the Internet. Story presentation and hierarchy, key elements of the print design process, are less evident or absent online. As a consequence, as previous research has demonstrated, online readers are more poorly informed than print readers – but not in this case. The research from this s...

Promise for Enhancing Children's Reading Attitudes Through Peer Reading: A Mixed Method Approach

ABSTRACT Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) was implemented for supplementary reading classes in a Korean elementary school. The treatment group children were exposed to PALS during 20 min sessions, 4 times a week, for 8 weeks. The impacts of PALS were investigated in 3 aspects using a mixed-methods approach: improvement in reading attitudes, reading skills, and student perceptions of the intervention. Data collection includes reading attitude measures, standardized reading comprehension test scores, student satisfaction survey, student interviews, and student journals. The PALS group students showed significantly enhanced reading attitudes and reading skills. Consistently, qualitative data analysis also revealed affirmative influence of PALS on students’ attitudes toward reading. Finally, the findings also suggested social benefits of PALS including developing cooperative skills and friendships.

Reappraisal of the Pivotal Role of Social Interactionist Perspectives in Furthering Learners’ Reading, Attitudinal Dexterities

Constructivist and social interactionist psychologies have indisputably opened up novel, unprecedented horizons for current pedagogical research which is centered on diversification of education and learner empowerment. Amid the myriad axioms, argumentations and theories configured under the auspices of social interactionist views toward instruction lies the vast body of techniques and principles falling under the flag of Vygotsky's groundbreaking theory widely known as ‘sociocultural theory’. An overriding component of Vygotskian line of argumentation, scaffolding is what mainly constitutes the pivotal cornerstone of the current scrutiny. Thus, seeking to probe the feasible impact of providing teacher intervention and peer assistance, in tandem with the underlying tenets of scaffolding theory, on learners’ possible reading gains and test attitude modifications, the researchers in the current study opted for a sample of 94 academic EFL freshmen. Data required for the study were amassed through two separate administrations of a standardized reading comprehension test, along with a questionnaire entitled ‘Student Opinion Survey’ (composed of two subscales of Task Importance and Task Effort), prior and successive to running treatment. In line with the final upshots gained through the study, it was found that no significant difference existed between the reading comprehension performance of experimental and control groups on the posttest. However, experimental group participants were characterized by undergoing more attitudinal changes, compared to control group learners, (in terms of both task importance and task effort components of the questionnaire) at the culmination of the research.

Prediction of the difficulty level in a standardized reading comprehension test: contributions from cognitive psychology and psychometrics

Prediction of the difficulty level in a standardized reading comprehension test: contributions from cognitive psychology and psychometrics

Scale of reading fluency in Spanish: measuring the components of fluency / Escala de fluidez lectora en español: midiendo los componentes de la fluidez

The main purpose of this study was to design and validate a rating scale to measure reading fluency. As well as speed and accuracy, different dimensions of prosody were taken into account (volume, intonation, pauses and phrasing), aspects hardly considered in reading assessment. In addition, a measure of reading quality was included. 122 Spanish primary-school children (74 in Year 2 and 48 in Year 4) read aloud a narrative text. Using inter-rater criteria, children’s reading was assessed with this new rating scale (Scale of Reading Fluency in Spanish, SRFS) (Escala de Fluidez Lectora en Español, EFLE) and with the Multidimensional Fluency Scale (Rasinski, 2004). Standardized reading comprehension and prosodic reading tests were used as criterion measures. Results show acceptable reliability and validity coefficients. We conclude that SRFS appears to be a useful instrument for using in education and research contexts.

Exploring the Reading-Writing Relationship in NES and EFL Students

A study investigated the relationship between reading and writing skills and their development in both native English-speakers (NES) and learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Subjects were 150 NES students, English majors in American universities, and 150 EFL students enrolled in schools of education at four Egyptian universities. Data were gathered using standardized reading comprehension and writing tests designed for either native speakers or non-native speakers of English. Results indicate a statistically significant positive correlation between NES students' reading and writing scores, but no statistically significant correlation for EFL students. It is suggested that this difference between the two groups may be due to teaching methods of NES and EFL teachers, differences in language proficiency levels, or language use outside the classroom. Implications for instruction include the need for more integrated instruction of reading and writing, simultaneous teaching of reading and writing from the beginning of language instruction, better preparation of English teachers to read like writers and write like readers, and understanding of the gaps between receptive and productive skills.

Improving Reading Comprehension and Social Studies Knowledge in Middle School

AbstractThis study aimed to determine the efficacy of a content acquisition and reading comprehension treatment implemented by eighth‐grade social studies teachers. Using a within‐teacher design, the eighth‐grade teachers’ social studies classes were randomly assigned to treatment or comparison conditions. Teachers (n = 5) taught the same instructional content to both treatment and comparison classes, but the treatment classes used instructional practices focused on teaching essential words, text as a source for reading and discussion, and team‐based learning approaches. Students in the treatment conditions (n = 261) scored statistically higher than students in the comparison conditions (n = 158) on all three outcomes: content acquisition (ES = 0.17), content reading comprehension (ES = 0.29), and standardized reading comprehension (ES = 0.20). Findings are interpreted as demonstrating support for the treatment in improving both knowledge acquisition and reading comprehension within content area instruction.

The relationship between syntactic knowledge and reading comprehension in EFL learners

Via a variety of measurements, 64 Hungarian native speakers in the 12th grade learning English as a foreign language in Slovakia were tested in a cross-sectional correlational study in order to determine the relationship between the ability to process complex syntax and foreign language reading comprehension. The test instruments involved a standardized reading comprehension test in English, and a test of syntactic knowledge in both Hungarian and English, in addition to a background questionnaire in Hungarian. Power correlations and regression analyses rendered results that showed syntactic knowledge to be a statistically significant estimator for foreign language reading comprehension. The study provides evidence that the ability to process complex syntactic structures in a foreign language does contribute to one’s efficient reading comprehension in that language.

The Potency of ‘READS’ to Inform Students’ Reading Ability

This paper shares an initiative conducted in Malaysia in terms of knowledge to gauge students’ Reading Age and to inform teachers of their students’ reading progress and learning. Ensuring teachers understand the needs of students’ reading ability and preparing students to read and comprehend texts are the two most fundamental parallel tasks in today’s classroom setting. Consequently, determining students’ Reading Age has become an important endeavour in recent years by many education authorities throughout the world. This study aims at incorporating the Reading Evaluation and Decoding System (READS), to ascertain students’ Reading Age and comprehension skills at macro and micro levels. This study employed a stratified sample of high school students who were in Secondary 1 through Secondary 5. Data was gathered through a generic standardized reading comprehension developed test. With a precise Reading Matrix, ESL teachers can appraise their students’ reading ability at any level by referring to the Performance Standards to distinguish whether their students are at Meet Reading Age, Below Reading Age or Above Reading Age status. Subsequently, teachers can refer to the Descriptors of Students’ Reading Abilities to find out what the students have achieved so far and what the struggling readers lacked. Accordingly, ESL teachers will be well informed of their students reading ability and accordingly can focus on reading skills development of their students. The ripple effects of READS may enhance students’ reading ability as teachers are now better informed of their students’ reading abilities and thus teachers will be able to prepare reading lessons appropriately according to their students’ reading needs.

Differences between overachieving and underachieving classes in reading: Teacher, classroom and student characteristics

The main purpose of this study was to examine the classroom, teacher and student factors distinguishing grade three classes performing at higher levels than expected, in relation to socioeconomic status (SES) and language factors, from classes performing below their potential with regard to the same factors. Data from a standardized reading comprehension test and student and teacher questionnaires covering teacher, classroom and student characteristics were collected. The participants were 1,092 grade three classes and their class teachers, from Stockholm, Sweden. By use of regression and a twin-matching procedure, one group of 94 underachieving classes and another group of 94 overachieving classes were formed for comparison. Data about extended voluntary reading, classroom climate, teacher experience and the use of authentic literature were seen to be the main four indicators discriminating between over- and underachieving classes beyond the impact of SES and language background.