I 



Survey of Reading Conditions in 

 Eighteen Indiana Cities 



THE TESTS 



Below are given the tests as they were presented to the chil- 

 dren, except style of type. The instructions to the persons giving 

 the tests were printed and made sufficiently clear, it was thought, 

 to insure uniform conditions in the testing. Of this there is only 

 relative assurance, for one does not issue instructions to teachers 

 long until he discovers there is no such thing as a ''fool-proof" 

 set of directions. Such variations in results as are due to in- 

 dividual variations of method in giving the tests, however, are 

 probably not great. The giving of the preliminary test doubt- 

 less served to correct errors for teachers as well as for the children, 

 so that the real test was more correctly given. 



With the variations in the method of computing results, the 

 chances for error were much greater, but it was possible by 

 checking and regrading to secure uniformity here also. In some 

 cases, the children's papers were not returned with the class scores. 

 Since it was impossible to check these scores, they were thrown out 

 and not considered in the composite scores. In only a few cases 

 was there apparent any disposition to play with the tests. In 

 some classes the children had evidently thought the tests a joke 

 and had given foolish answers. In a few cases, the teachers had 

 evidently slighted the work and made up class scores which had 

 no relation to the actual scores of the children reported. All 

 such was either corrected or rejected. The results reported, 

 therefore, in the following pages may be considered trustworthy 

 measures of the reading abilities of the children tested. 



Visual Vocabulary 



I. PRELIMINARY TEST 



Look at each word and write the letter F under every word that means a 

 flower. 



Then look at each word again and write the letter A under every word that 

 means an animal. 



(6) 



