[senco-forum] Reading Comprehension Assessment

No we don't hear them read them though if one to one they can read aloud
if they wish but we use these for testing 350 new entrants each year and
then can pick out the ones we want to look at more closely. 

They have to circle the correct word from a choice of five to make the
sentence make sense. You can see from many of the answers where they
have misread and where they jumped at the first linked word and where
they had no idea of the meaning.

 For example Tom's baby sister is a boy/brother/son/girl/grill. 
 There was a now/nought/knot/not/note at each end of the rope. 
There was a petition/position/nutrition/partition/particle shutting off
the new rooms.  (but they are laid out well!)

The test has no time limit.

For those who need a closer look I use Neale analysis.

Barbara

-----Original Message-----
From: senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk
[mailto:senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk] On Behalf Of Jean
Hutchins 1
Sent: 07 May 2008 13:29
To: senco-forum at lists.becta.org.uk
Subject: Re: [senco-forum] Reading Comprehension Assessment

Barbara Blaney <BBLANEY at chalvedon-barstable.com> wrote:

 >I use NFER Group Comprehension tests which have 2 sets of parallel 
tests which cover RA 7 years  to 15+. Easy to administer and can even be

used by whole classes.<

In that case u do not hear the individuals read the text,
so u will not know if comprehension errors
are due to inaccurate reading or to lack of understanding.

Are they multiple choice questions
which testees have to read accurately?
Or do testees have to read the questions AND write the answers.

Presumably it is a timed test.

Mary Kelly <mary.kelly4 at ntlworld.com> wrote
 >Neale, because it tests comprehension independently of word 
recognition ...
but I think the ceiling is about age 12 (?).<

12-6 I think.
With Neale, one could, and presumably still can,
tell testees words they read wrongly,
which gives them more chance in the oral comprehension
question and answer.
U get an accuracy score which makes interesting
comparison with the comprehension score.
And u can have a speed of reading score (no time limit)
if u can manage the stop watch as well as recording errors!
One had to cover the text but leave the picture in view
while the testee was answering the questions.

There was also a similar New Macmillan Reading Analysis,
possibly no longer available.
U could not tell testees reading errors,
so they floundered on, one error leading to another.
I think testees could look back thru the text for the answers.

It would be interesting if someone could use
NFER group and Neale with the same pupils
and compare the scores.

Jean
-----------------------------------------
Jean Hutchins, SE Surrey DA.
RSA Dip SpLD, AMBDA, retired.
E-mail: jeanhutchins1 at ntlworld.com
British Dyslexia Association Web: www.bdadyslexia.org.uk
Also into spelling reform: www.simplifiedspelling.org
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