Parents' Attitudes toward Reports of Standardized Reading Test Results

Parents of third graders (N = 24) were presented with four types of reports on their children's standardized reading test performance. Parents were asked to select the report types they most & least preferred. The results indicated that parents least preferred the type of report that school...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Reading teacher 1985-03, Vol.38 (7), p.624-632
Main Authors: Dreher, Mariam Jean, Singer, Harry
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Achievement tests
Children
Publishing industry
Reading comprehension
Reading teachers
Reading tests
Reporting standards
Standardized tests
Test scores
Waterfalls
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Summary:Parents of third graders (N = 24) were presented with four types of reports on their children's standardized reading test performance. Parents were asked to select the report types they most & least preferred. The results indicated that parents least preferred the type of report that schools typically provide - norm-comparison information only. Instead, parents overwhelmingly preferred reports that included (1) content information - a sample of the most difficult items the student could complete - rather than only numerical scores, & (2) self-comparison information in addition to norm-referenced information only. Parents also completed reaction scales regarding their choices. These results indicated that modifying test reports helped parents understand their children's performance better by clarifying the types of materials their children read, as well as by clarifying how their children compared to others & how they had improved over their own past performance. Their reaction scale responses indicated more favorable attitudes toward testing, their children's progress, & school when their preferred test reports were provided. The results are consistent with previous work with teachers, principals, & superintendents (eg, Singer, Harry, & Dreher, Mariam Jean, "Attitudes towards Testing and Test Results of Reading Achievement" in Journal of Reading Behavior, 1983, 15, 19-32). Such agreement from both educators & parents strengthens the arguments for changing current testing & reporting practices. Implementation of such testing & reporting is discussed. 4 Figures, 13 References. Modified AA
ISSN:0034-0561