A Comparison of Standardized Oral Reading Test Scores and Standardized Informal Reading Inventory Results

Carol Powell

Date of Graduation

Fall 1979

Degree

Master of Science in Education in Literacy

Department

Reading, Foundations, and Technology

Committee Chair

James Layton

Abstract

This study contains a comparison of the results obtained from two standardized reading tests with those acquired through that utilization of a standardized informal reading inventory to establish grade-equivalent scores of selected subjects in grade one. The subjects were twenty pupils attending a summer session designed for children with reading difficulties. Twenty children were given the Oral Reading paragraph subtests of the Durrell Analysis of Reading Difficulty, Diagnostic Reading scales, and Analytical Reading Inventory to establish their functional reading levels. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant difference in the oral reading levels of the first-grade students as measured by using the three tests. It was also hypothesized that there would be a significant relationship among the first-grade students' oral reading levels as measured by using the tests. Pearson product-moment correlations and t-tests were computed for the three sets of scores. The means of the two standarized reading test scores were not significantly different. However, the means of the standardized informal reading inventory scores were significantly lower than the two standardized reading test score means. Correlation among all three tests were only slightly significant. The largest correlation (r=.671) accounted for approximately 45 percent of the variance. The low correlations promoted suspicion as to the validity and reliability of the instruments utilized. The final conclusion was that the ARI will place students in easier reading materials for instructional purposes than the other tests.

Subject Categories

Other Education

Copyright

© Carol Powell

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Dissertation/Thesis

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