A social studies achievement test made up of items rewritten in simplified language was compared with a test containing the same items in their original form by administering the two tests to the entire 8th grade class of a suburban junior high school near Baltimore. The results showed only slightly higher scores for students taking the simplified test. Differences among the items in estimated reading difficulty were not associated with differences in actual response difficulty. The findings were interpreted to mean that most students who know enough to answer a test item can also read well enough to understand it. (Author)