Elementary iris: Do they reflect what we know about text type/structure and comprehension?

Abstract

The passages of four informal reading inventories were analyzed to determine the text type of each passage, whether or not narrative passages were well‐formed, and whether or not expository passages were well‐organized. It was found that these inventories contained both narrative and expository passages at both primary and intermediate levels. Almost half of the narratives were judged to be poorly‐formed. The authors conclude that the lack of continuity in text type and organization could result in children's comprehension scores being erratic and invalid, with low instructional levels being assigned on the basis of these inventories. The authors argue that narrative passages are the most appropriate for placing students in basal readers and that well‐formed passages would yield more reliable results.