Developing and testing the feasibility of computerized adaptive
tests of reading comprehension for students in grades 4 through 9.

Imagine a middle school social studies classroom with 31 students. The academic term is starting and as the teacher reviews the students’ class work and a unit test, she concludes that these students are not only having significant difficulty with understanding the conceptual materials in the textbook, but that the students have even more fundamental difficulties with reading literacy. She suspects that in general the students are not efficient readers, and many do not appear skilled at reading for information, summarizing what they read, and making inferences or evaluative conclusions.

To check on her tentative conclusions and to plan how she might best assist the students, the teacher provides class time for the students to complete an online assessment of reading comprehension abilities.

Unlike the days of paper and pencil tests, these students access the reading comprehension test on a computer linked to the Internet. As the students complete the brief assessment, the teacher immediately reviews an individual student’s performance, including his or her reading comprehension abilities, and then abilities of the class as a whole. The results will confirm and/or correct the general impression that the teacher formed about the students, and provide a profile of each student and the class.

The teacher’s next concern is planning activities that will most efficiently help students improve literacy skills and therefore social studies content knowledge. She directs students to another Internet-based reading comprehension assessment. The students read several passages at their individual reading ability levels, and answer questions that assess specific reading comprehension abilities. The teacher receives very specific information on which to focus instruction in reading comprehension strategies.

Every two to three weeks the students have an opportunity to take additional Internet-based reading comprehension assessments that assess their progress in learning and applying the new comprehension strategies. In this way, the teacher can provide important instruction in developing the literacy and strategic reading comprehension knowledge and social studies content of her class.

The goal of this project is to develop and test the feasibility of the reading comprehension assessment framework appropriate for upper elementary and middle school settings as described here.

The first two years of this project are proof-of-concept research, carrying out the basic science necessary to develop and field-test a reading comprehension assessment that incorporates two parts:

(a) Computer adaptive test (CAT) for accurately classifying students based on their reading comprehension abilities, and

(b) Fixed form assessment for regularly measuring student progress toward improved reading proficiency.

If the proof-of-concept research is successful, subsequent research and development will provide teachers and administrators with a valid and reliable reading comprehension assessment tool that supports decision-making in core instruction, in both general education and support programs, for at-risk adolescents in upper elementary and middle school settings. Teachers will not only know at what reading comprehension levels their students are reading, but be advised as to their students individual needs, strengths, and weaknesses, and how they are responding to specific instruction and curricula.

Project Staff:
Don Deshler & John Poggio, Principal Investigators
Diane Nielson & Arlene Berry, Project Coordinators
Carrie Madden & Sara Prewitt, Project Managers,
Mike Hock, Daryl Mellard, & Xiangdong Yang, Project Contributors

Project Contact: Carrie Madden or Sara Prewett
Phone Number: 785-864-7053