Word Recognition and Comprehension

Essentially reading is made up of word recognition (decoding, word attack, and automatic word recognition), comprehension (vocabulary, word groups, synthesis of information), and fluency (rate of reading with a minimum of errors). Reading tests usually attempt to measure one or more of these components and, in varying degrees, measure their sub-components.

Formal, published tests are usually designed as survey tests or diagnostic tests. The group tests usually found in school are survey tests and provide general information on individual students. Because there are few items within each subset, interpretation of the results for each individual tends to have low reliability. Full test information on each student is more reliable.

Diagnostic tests tend to focus on basic subsets of reading skills, often contain more items within a subset than survey tests, and tend to be a more reliable measure on which to base judgments and plan curriculum. Survey and diagnostic tests can either be stand-alone tests that are not tied to any particular set of instructional materials or tests specifically designed to reveal scores relevant to a particular set of instructional materials.

Both stand-alone and test-to-program approaches can be used effectively to improve reading skills. Stand-alone tests require the instructor to select materials and strategies that can be tailored to improve weaknesses and capitalize on strengths within individual and groups of students. These programs are exemplified by the procedures used at the Boys Town Reading Center (Curtis and Longo, 1999).

Tests that lead to a particular set of instructional materials may be easier for teachers with limited experience teaching reading, have limited access to materials, who must serve large numbers of students, or whose program must blend with those of other teachers. Teachers, however, who uses a commercial test/reading programs can also step outside those program and supplement instruction with complimentary materials.