A Comparison of Reading Measures as Indicators of Risk across Grade Levels

The purpose of this study was to assess relationships between early literacy skills of at-risk students assessed with curriculum-based and norm-referenced measures. Participants were students in first, second, and third grade. Trained examiners administered five curriculum-based reading passages and three norm-referenced reading subtests to each student. Strong relationships were evident between performance on the curriculum-based oral reading fluency assessments and the norm-referenced reading subtests of word attack, word identification and passage comprehension skills. Findings are discussed with regard to previous research and recommendations are provided for helping teachers and other professionals engaged in efforts to use assessment information in response to intervention as well as in targeting instructional support needed in reading.