The Development of a Passage Reading Test for the Frequent Monitoring of Performance of Low-Progress Readers

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a means of tracking the reading performance of low-progress readers on a weekly basis, so as to inform instructional decision-making. A representative sample of 261 primary school children from Years 1 to 5 were tested on 21 different text passages taken from a developing passage reading test, the Wheldall Assessment of Reading Passages (WARP). The results from this study were used to identify a series of ten ‘progress passages’ that were of very similar difficulty level to a set of three parallel ‘basal’ WARP passages. High parallel form reliability levels were demonstrated among all the passages. It is argued that the ten parallel progress passages may be employed with the original three basal passages, first to establish the current reading performance level of low-progress readers and then to track their progress by administering each of the ten progress passages weekly in turn over a ten week school term.