Measuring Reading Competence: A Theoretical-Prescriptive Approach

✍ Scribed by Steven Schwartz (auth.)

• Publisher: Springer US
• Year: 1984
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 345
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book concerns measuring reading skills. It is not meant to be a compre­ hensive survey of reading research or a review of all possible approaches to reading measurement (although considerable attention is given to both subjects). Instead, the purpose of this book is to present a coherent, theoretically based approach to measuring reading competence. The ability to measure a phenomenon is an important prerequisite for scientific analysis. As Lord Kelvin said, "One's knowledge of science begins when he can measure what he is speaking about and express it in numbers." Unfortunately, not just any numbers will do. Presently available reading tests provide their users with a plethora of numbers-age levels, percentiles, grade equivalents-but their scientific value is questionable. The problem is that there is more to scientific measurement than merely assigning numbers to arbitrarily chosen behaviors. Scientific measurement occurs only within the confines of a theory, and most reading tests are atheoretical. Recent years have witnessed an explosive growth in reading research.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xi
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
The Problem with Reading Tests....Pages 3-8
Front Matter....Pages 9-9
Reading Research and Theory....Pages 11-39
Reading Tests Today....Pages 40-77
Information-Processing Skills in Reading....Pages 78-110
Front Matter....Pages 111-111
Theoretically Based Decoding Measures....Pages 113-151
A Theoretically Based Comprehension Measure....Pages 152-172
Front Matter....Pages 173-173
Applications of Tests in Reading Instruction....Pages 175-201
What the Future Holds....Pages 202-217
Front Matter....Pages 219-219
Specifications for Implementing the Tests....Pages 221-313
Back Matter....Pages 314-343

✦ Subjects

Cognitive Psychology; Education (general)