Abstract:
PRI Reading Systems (PRI/RS) is a series of tests and supplementary materials to be used for the assessment and teaching of reading and language arts in grades K-9. The criterion-referenced test is designed to be used for placing students at appropriate instructional levels as well as diagnosing strengths and weaknesses in reading. At the lower levels, the test focuses on the comprehension of oral language and is administered partly by the teacher speaking aloud and partly by cassette tape. Upper levels add vocabulary, reading comprehension, study skills, and content area reading subtests. All items are multiple choice with four response possibilities. Test forms are machine scored by the publisher. For each examinee, feedback begins with an Individual Diagnostic Map containing a list of skills for each subtest and reflects a value of (+) to indicate mastery, (-) for non-mastery, and (R) for incomplete mastery. An Objectives Mastery Report presents this same information on a grid for the whole class with totals for each skill that show how many students have mastered it. The Class Grouping Report lists students in groups according to which objectives they have not yet mastered so that they can be targeted for specific remediation. The PRI/RS has been cross-validated with the California Achievement Test (CAT), with cross validity ranging from .84 to .90 at various test levels. An estimate of equivalent scores on the CAT for each student appears on the Estimated Norms Class Record Sheet. In addition to information about examinees, teachers also receive lesson plan and bulletin board ideas with examples and references specific to the instructional objectives tested. Suggestions for activities, games, and group work are included as well as page numbers of corresponding material from ten popular basal reading series. Tutoring sheets that can be sent home list activities designed to teach unmastered skills and student worksheets reinforce new learning. Finally, classroom mastery tests with the same format as the standardized test are provided so that student progress can be monitored. The progress of the whole class can be recorded on the Monitoring Log.