10 



Indiana University Studies 



the right of the table. Enter the appropriate value for paragraph 1 in 

 the blank space in the column under "Value." Thus, the appropriate 

 value for paragraph 1, for the third grade, is 30. The values for all 

 other paragraphs remain the same for all grades. 



{d) Multiply the score for each paragraph by its value and enter 

 the result in the column under "Product." 



(e) Find the sum of the products and divide by 4 times the num- 

 ber of pupils in the class. The result is the average class score. 



3. Individual scores may be found as follows: 



(a) Do as directed in (6), (c), and (d) in the directions for find- 

 ing the average class score. 



(6) Divide the sum of the products by 4. The result is the indi- 

 vidual score. 



(c) The average class score may be found by finding the average 

 of the individual scores. 



No estimate of the quality of oral reading was made in 

 this investigation for two reasons. In the first place, previ- 

 ous investigations have shown that it is very difficult to define 

 the various elements which make up quality of oral reading 

 on a basis which is acceptable to a large number of teachers ; 

 in the second place, it has been found that the scores given 

 to pupils by the methods employed in this study correspond 

 very closely to the teacher's estimate of the relative quality 

 of the reading of the various pupils. For illustration, the 

 principals who gave the oral reading tests in connection with 

 the Grand Rapids survey were asked to make a record of the 

 quality of the reading in terms of A, B, or C. If the read- 

 ing was very well done, this fact was indicated by placing an 

 A before the paragraph. If, on the other hand, the reading 

 was very poorly done from the standpoint of expression, the 

 fact was indicated by placing a C before the paragraph. 

 These records of quality showed that the time records and 

 records of errors can be relied on as satisfactory measures 

 of the pupil's reading ability. In nearly every case a pupil 

 received a quality mark of A if the paragraph was read at 

 a normal rate with not more than one or two errors. On 

 the other hand, as the number of errors increased and as 

 the rate of reading decreased the quality mark recorded was 

 B or C. These results suggest that when pupils read very 

 poorly the reason may usually be sought in the fact that they 

 have been assigned material which presents too many diffi- 

 culties for them. 



