Cooperative Study of Reading 



17 



Results OF the Oral Reading Tests 



The oral reading tests were scored under the immediate 

 direction of the Bureau of Cooperative Research. The scores 

 which are used in this report were calculated on the basis oi 

 the time required to read a paragraph and the numbers of 

 errors made. The reduction of each child's record to a simple 

 numerical statement is based on a system of scoring which 

 turns into quantitative terms the fact that a paragraph should 

 be read in a certain amount of time with a limited number 

 of errors. If the pupil exceeds the amount of time which has 

 been found in earlier investigations to be common and if the 

 number of errors increases, the amount of credit which he gets 

 for reading a paragraph should be proportionately reduced. 

 The final score for an individual is found by calculating the 

 total amount of credit due the pupil on all paragraphs which 

 he reads. The average class score is found by calculating the 

 arithmetical average of all individual scores in the class. 



The scores for fifteen cities are presented by grades in 

 Table 1. The arable numerals from 1 to 16 which appear at 

 the left of the table refer to the various cities which cooper- 

 ated in the study. The cities are arranged in groups on the 

 basis of population. In connection with the report for each 

 grade the number of pupils which were tested is indicated. 

 In many cases a minimum of ten pupils was tested. In a 

 majority of the cases, however, a much larger number of 

 pupils were tested. The average score for Indiana appears 

 at the foot of the table. The entries in the table reveal the 

 fact that the results varied widely in different schools. In 

 the second grade, for illustration, the scores varied from 21 

 to 46. These scores indicate that the class which made the 

 highest score had progressed more than twice as rapidly as 

 the class which received the lowest score. The schools which 

 rank low in each grade, particularly in the lower grades, may 

 legitimately question the adequacy of their instruction in oral 

 re^-ding. The average scores show that the schools of Indiana 

 make steady progress thru the second, third, fourth, and fifth 

 grades, and that there is an apparent decrease in the rate of 

 progress beyond that point. 



The average oral reading scores for Indiana are compared 

 with the average scores vv^hich were secured in a number of 

 other investigations in Table 11. The investigations have 



