Publication: The Gambia : Early Grade Reading Assessment
Date
2008-01
ISSN
Published
2008-01
Author(s)
Sprenger-Charolles, Liliane
Abstract
In most major international assessments
(e.g., Programme for International Student
Assessment-Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development [PISAOECD], and Progress in International
Reading Literacy Study -International Evaluation of
Educational Achievement [PIRLS-IEA]) children's reading
skills are not assessed before fourth grade. For students
who are poor readers, it is often too late to carry out
efficient and effective remedial instruction. Indeed, to be
efficient, remedial instruction should be conducted as early
as possible. In addition, most major assessments are only
composed of reading comprehension tasks, and do not take
into account the level of word reading fluency (including
accuracy and speed) and listening comprehension. However,
research suggests that reading comprehension is associated
with capacity in these complementary tasks. A large-scale
reading assessment was conducted in Gambia with 1,200 first,
second, and third graders (randomly selected from 40
schools) who were learning to read in English. Three
analyses were carried out. The first involved a comparison
within the group, in which the effect of control variables
including gender, home language, and socioeconomic status
was examined in relation to the children s results. In the
second analysis, the pattern of correlations between the
different tasks (and between these tasks and some control
variables) was examined. Finally, regression analyses were
carried out in order to determine the predictors of
isolated-word and word-in-context reading, and reading comprehension.
Citation
“Sprenger-Charolles, Liliane. 2008. The Gambia : Early Grade Reading Assessment. © World Bank, Washington, Dc. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/e59a3299-6471-5e90-8572-f484e09e5c10 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”