SECOND GRADE STUDENTS AND STANDARIZED READING TEST

Second Grade Students And Standarized Reading Test

Second Grade Students And Standarized Reading Test

Chapter 5: Results, Discussion & Recommendations

Results

Raw scores were obtained for second grade level by determining appropriate number of items passed. For comparison purposes, percentage of items correct (number correct/total number of items) was calculated at second grade level for each test. As in Shapiro and Derr (1987), grade-equivalent scores of 0.8 were required for mastery of all material at the given grade level (e.g., the grade-equivalent score of 2.8 was required for placement at Grade 2). Numbers of items correct on DRS were compared with tabled values for second grade to determine average grade scores.

Total numbers of items, percentages of items correct, grade equivalents, and percentile scores for the hypothetical student who had mastered all skills taught at second grade level within each reading program are presented in Table 2. Because standardized scores for WRMT-R and CAT were based on different means and standard deviations, these scores were not included in comparisons. Regardless of reading program, most decoding skills were taught at preprimer, first-grade, and second-grade levels. HM and SF reflected more of the phonics-first approach to instruction, whereas HBJ and SBG continued to introduce phonics skills beyond Grade 2. This approach to instruction produced the decreasing trend in percentile scores with increases in grade level on WRMT-R for HM and SF programs. Similarly, percentage of items correct on DRS showed little or no increase at Grade 2 for HM, SF, and HBJ series. These patterns were not obtained, however, for scores on CAT, which employs different item sets at each grade level. Using 0.8 as the criterion, majority of obtained grade equivalent scores fell at or above expected grade levels on WRMT-R (71%). By comparison, only 31% of obtained grade-equivalent scores fell at or above expected grade levels on DRS and only 29 % fell at or above expected grade levels on CAT.

Comparing curricula on any given test revealed the number of discrepancies. For example, percentile scores obtained at first-grade level on WRMT-R ranged from the low of 21 for HBJ to the high of 90 for SF. Collapsing across tests, instruction in SF series produced highest overall proportion of grade-equivalent scores that fell at or above expected grade levels (75 % versus 19% for HM). Overall proportion of grade-equivalent scores that fell at or above expected grade levels for both HBJ and SBG series was 44%. Discrepancies were also obtained across tests in relation to any given curriculum. For example, grade-equivalent scores obtained at third-grade level of SF ranged from the low of 1.5 on CAT to the high of 16.9 on WRMT-R. An average grade score of 3.6 was obtained at this level on DRS.

It was expected before considering the study that no more than 2 of the 70 second grade students (3%) of the ABC elementary school will score “far below” the basic range on the 2010 reading part of the CST, however as results showed, only 1 ...