Background: Detecting reading comprehension difficulties is challenging because many factors are involved in comprehension ability. Various reading comprehension tests can be used to detect difficulties but often do not yield the same results. Method: Our aim was to analyse the agreement between three commonly used standardised reading…

This demonstration introduces and presents an innovative online cognitive diagnostic assessment, developed to identify the types of cognitive processes that readers use during comprehension; specifically, processes that distinguish between subtypes of struggling comprehenders. Cognitive diagnostic assessments are designed to provide valuable…

This article examines two kinds of problems associated with the English Language Arts test at the fourth-grade level in New York State: (1) problems that inhere in the test itself and (2) problems associated with its use. As for the test itself, three kinds of problems are analyzed: (1) the use of multiple-choice tasks to assess reading…

This paper describes New Jersey's High School Proficiency Test (HPST) in reading, one of three tests given to all 11th graders as a state graduation requirement. Each reading passage represents one of four test types (narrative, informational, persuasive/argumentative, and workplace). Each passage is followed by multiple-choice items and at least…

The development of the Polish Proficiency Test, a standardized, nationally-normed test of listening and reading comprehension for English-speaking learners of Polish, is reported. An introductory chapter provides background information about the test's development, including discussion of the relationship between the test and Polish language…

Arguing that educational testing has not grown with the theory and knowledge base of the reading field, this paper cites the current configuration of testing as a major contributor to the instructional stagnation, methodological back-to-basics movement, and general lack of excitement and true innovation found in classrooms and schools today. The…

This administrator's summary describes the Tests of Achievement and Proficiency (TAP). The TAP battery is designed to provide information about the strengths and weaknesses of the instructional program and about skills performance of individual students in grades 9 through 12. The TAP may be administered at the year's beginning, middle, or end;…

The Standardized Tests of Achievement for Fiji (STAFs) were developed to measure skills and concepts of curriculum subjects for elementary schools. Two parallel tests were issued in early 1980 for Class-6 subjects (students in grade 6 of Fiji primary schools): (1) English Reading Comprehension; (2) English Listening Comprehension; (3) English…

Papers from the conference on language testing include: "Foundations and Directions for a New Decade of Language Testing" (Carol Chapelle, Dan Douglas); "A Comparison of the Abilities Measured by the Cambridge and Educational Testing Service EFL Test Batteries" (Lyle F. Bachman, Fred Davidson, John Foulkes); "Judgments in…