The Use of Four Reading Tests For Classroom Reading Placement

The purpose of this study was to find a quick, yet educationally significant process to predict the independent reading level of students through the use of test scores obtained on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, and the Informal Reading Inventory. The subjects for this study were 78 sixth grade students in a junior high setting. The variables in this study were the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (comprehension), the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test (comprehension), the Informal Reading Inventory individual reading level, and the cloze individual reading level. The researcher used a published Informal Reading Inventory and a teacher constructed cloze test. The data from the variables were analyzed using the Mini Tab Multi-Regression Formula and the t-test technique. The statistical analysis conducted indicated that the intercorrelations between the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, the Informal Reading Inventory and the cloze were significant at the .001 level. However, none of the correlations were judged to be educationally significant; therefore, the researcher determined that educational predictions should not be attempted from the results. By using the multiple-regression analysis on the four sets of tests scores, the results indicated that both individually or in combination, the groups of variables were not strong nor educationally significant predictors of the cloze independent reading level