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ACQ
Volume 11, Number 2 2009
ACQ
uiring knowledge in speech, language and hearing
Reading Scale
(Hagley, 1987, cited in Nation & Snowling,
1997) tap different underlying skills. The Suffolk Reading
Scale is a group-administered reading test, which uses a
multiple choice sentence-completion (cloze) format (much
like the WRMT-R), although there is a test time-limit of 20
minutes and the children are encouraged to spend the
maximum time allowed. A total of 184 children, attending
year 3 and year 4 of primary school, participated in the
study. The results from Nation and Snowling’s study showed
that the reading comprehension measure derived from
the NARA was dependent on both word recognition and
listening comprehension ability. In contrast, performance on
the Suffolk Reading Scale was mostly dependent on word
recognition ability as measured by single word reading.
In practice this means that children who fit a specific
comprehension deficit profile (i.e., reading comprehension
difficulties as a result of listening comprehension deficits)
may show adequate reading comprehension performance
on tests using cloze formats, for example the WRMT–R or
the Suffolk Reading Scale, but impaired performance on
the NARA. Based on these results Nation and Snowling
recommend the use of either the NARA or an individually
administered test of listening comprehension to ensure
adequate detection of specific comprehension deficits in
children with reading difficulties.
A more recent study into the NARA’s ability to differentiate
between reading accuracy and reading comprehension
problems, however, found that children with poor
word recognition skills may be incorrectly identified as
demonstrating a reading comprehension deficit (Spooner,
Baddeley, & Gathercole, 2004). Because of the nature of the
NARA, in which testing is discontinued once a child exceeds
the number of permitted decoding errors on a passage,
the correlation between reading accuracy and reading
comprehension scores is inherently high for children with
word recognition difficulties. In a response to this study Cain
and Oakhill (2006) argued that the NARA is an effective tool
in identifying children with specific comprehension deficits
when used in conjunction with independent measures of
listening comprehension skill and decoding ability.
Keenan, Betjemann, and Olson (2008) attempted to
confirm previous research regarding reading comprehension
tests’ dependence on word recognition and listening
comprehension skills. They also investigated if the
weaknesses in word recognition and/or listening
comprehension skills, a reading comprehension deficit may
go unnoticed (Bowyer-Crane & Snowling, 2005).
To assess reading comprehension, most tests require
children to read sentences or passages, either silently or
out loud. Children’s comprehension of this written material
is then tested by: 1) asking open-ended questions (with or
without the text to refer back to), 2) asking multiple choice
questions, or 3) using a cloze type procedure in which the
children are asked to fill in the missing (key) words. Some
frequently used reading comprehension assessments in
Australia are listed in table 1. The main issues that need to
be taken into consideration when choosing a specific test for
reading comprehension include:
•
test format – the way in which the test measures reading
comprehension;
•
passage dependency – do you need to read the passage
to be able to answer the questions?;
•
a child’s test taking strategies – e.g., attention to detail,
persistence.
These factors will be discussed in more detail below.
Test format
The most commonly used test formats to measure reading
comprehension ability are cloze tests and question-and-
answer tests. An example of a test utilising a cloze task is
the Passage Comprehension subtest from the
Woodcock
Reading Mastery Tests – Revised
(WRMT–R: Woodcock,
1998), in which the child is required to silently read one or
two sentences (the first 30 items), or a short passage (the
remaining 38 items), and identify a missing key word. In
contrast, the comprehension score derived from the
Gray
Oral Reading Tests
– 4th edition (GORT—4; Wiederholt &
Bryant, 2001) is based on the child’s ability to answer multiple
choice questions which are read out by the examiner, after the
child has read aloud a short passage and the text is removed.
Other examples of question-and-answer tests are the
Wechsler Individual Achievement Test
– 2nd edition (WIAT-II;
Wechsler, 2001) and the
Neale Analysis of Reading Ability
– 3rd edition (NARA; Neale, 1999). In both the WIAT and the
NARA, children read out loud and are asked open-ended
questions by the examiner while the text stays in view.
Nation and Snowling (1997) investigated whether an older
British version of the NARA (Neale, 1988) and the
Suffolk
Table 1. Examples of frequently used reading comprehension assessments
Reading comprehension
Test procedure
Format
assessment
NARA:
Neale Analysis of Reading
Student reads passages out loud. Decoding mistakes are corrected by examiner.
The examiner asks
Ability
– 3rd ed. (Neale, 1999)
Testing is discontinued if the student makes more than 12 decoding mistakes in one open-ended questions
passage. Open ended questions about the passage are asked immediately afterwards.
The text stays in view.
GORT–4:
Gray Oral Reading Tests
– Student reads narrative or expository passages out loud, as quickly as possible.
The examiner asks
4th Ed. (Wiederholt & Bryant, 2001)
Examiner asks 5 multiple choice questions immediately following the reading. Text is multiple choice
removed from view. Testing is discontinued when students answers 3 out of the 5
questions
questions incorrectly.
TORCH:
Test of Reading
Student reads silently. There are 12 reading passages. Student reads a passage and Untimed. Modified
Comprehension
(Mossenson et al.,
then uses a cloze answer sheet to retell the passage, filling in the gaps in his/her own cloze procedure; cloze
1987)
words to demonstrate understanding.
style pencil and paper
test
WRMT–R:
Woodcock Reading
The student is required to silently read one or two sentences (the first 30 items), or a Cloze procedure
Mastery Test – Revised
: Passage
short passage (the remaining 38 items), and identify a missing key word.
Comprehension (Woodcock, 1998)