Torc 3 final
- 1. Test of Reading Comprehension By: Sami Napier & Sabrina Richardson
- 2. To identify students whose scores are significantly below those of their peers and who might need interventions designed to improve reading comprehension To determine areas of relative strength and weakness across reading comprehension abilities To document overall progress in reading development as a consequences of interventions programs To serve as a measure for research efforts designed to investigate reading comprehension
- 3. Ages, 0-7 and 11-17 Able to understand directions of subtests Able to formulate the necessary responses Able to read English
- 4. No time limits The entire test varies from 30 minutes to 90 minutes The average time being an hour Each subtest generally takes 5-15 minutes
- 7. Shorten testing time Avoid giving readers items that are too difficult
- 8. Purpose: to measure the reader’s understanding of vocabulary that is related to a general concept Description: 25 vocabulary questions Ceiling: reached when three (3) items in any five-item sequence have been answered incorrectly
- 10. Purpose: to measure the reader’s understanding of meaningfully similar but syntactically different sentence structures Description: 20 questions Ceiling: reached when three (3) items in any five-item sequence have been answered incorrectly
- 12. Purpose: ability to answer questions related to the paragraph Description: 6 paragraphs with 5 questions each The first question requires the student to choose the best title that conveys the overall theme The second and fifth questions recall story details The third question makes an inference The fourth question makes a negative inference Ceiling: reached when two items or more questions for any story are answered incorrectly
- 14. Purpose: measure the ability to order sentences into a paragraph Description: 10 test questions Consisting of 5 randomly ordered sentences and the reader has to put them in the correct order to form a paragraph Ceiling: reached when any two items in a row have a score of 3 or lower
- 16. Purpose: understanding of mathematics vocabulary Description: 25 test questions Ceiling: reached when three (3) items in any five-item sequence have been answered incorrectly
- 18. Purpose: understand social studies vocabulary Description: 25 test questions Ceiling: reached when three (3) items in any five-item sequence have been answered incorrectly
- 20. Purpose: understanding of science vocabulary Description: 25 test questions Ceiling: reached when three (3) items in any five-item sequence have been answered incorrectly
- 22. Purpose: measures understanding of written directions commonly found in schoolwork Description: 25 test questions Consist of a printed command that the student has to carry out on the answer sheet Ceiling: no ceiling, all items should be accepted
- 24. Raw Scores: total number of points correct for each subtest Grade Equivalent: Indicates the reading comprehension grade level that corresponds to the raw score made by the student Age Equivalent: Indicates the age level that corresponds to the raw score made by the student Percentiles: Represent a value on a scale of 100 that indicates the percentage of the distribution that is equal or below the value. Example: 90% of a 12 year old indicates that 90 % of the sample at that age scored at or below the raw score.
- 25. Subtest Standard Scores: These scores provide the clearest indication of a person’s subtest performance. Example: Standard score is 8 they are considered average and approximately half (49.50%) of the population is average Standard Score Description % of Age Included 17-20 Very Superior 2.27 15-16 Superior 6.86 13-14 Above Average 16.12 8-12 Average 49.50 6-7 Below Average 16.12 4-5 Poor 6.86 1-3 Very Poor 2.27
- 26. The Reading Comprehension Quotient (RCQ):combination of General Vocabulary, Syntactic Similarities, Paragraph Reading, and Sentence Sequencing Most reliable, valid, and useful measure of reading comprehension Quotient Description % Age Included >130 Very Superior 2.27 121-130 Superior 6.86 111-120 Above Average 16.12 90-110 Average 49.50 80-89 Below Average 16.12 70-79 Poor 6.86 < 70 Very Poor 2.27
- 30. 1. All subtest scores fall in a fairly narrow range varying no more than 3 to 5 standard score points. This means that the reader is consistent in their reading competence. 2. Readers perform higher on reading comprehension score subtests than on one or more of the diagnostic supplements. 3. A reader performs significantly lower on one of the reading comprehension core subtests. 4. A reader is inconsistent across the subtests.
- 31. Reading comprehension is a complex mental ability TORC-3 subtests were correlated with the total scores of two intelligence tests ◦ Short-Form Test of Academic Aptitude ◦ Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised
- 32. The previous TORC test received negative criticism because it failed to describe the characteristics of the normative sample in regards to ethnicity, race and disabling conditions. These issues were corrected in the TORC-3
Editor's Notes
- #31: The torc-3 is a reading comprehension test. Fairly flat profile- All subtest scores fall in a fairly narrow range varying no more than 3 to 5 standard score points. This means that the reader is consistent in their reading competence. It can indicate above-average, average, or below-average reading ability. Readers perform higher on reading comprehension score subtests than on one or more of the diagnostic supplements. This usually means they have not been taught or benefited from instruction in social studies, science, or mathematics. The third pattern occurs occasionally. A reader performs significantly lower on one of the reading comprehension core subtests. A reading is inconsistent across the subtests.