Using pencil‐and‐paper lexical‐decision tests to assess word decoding skill: aspects of validity and reliability

The viability of a pencil‐and‐paper version of the lexical‐decision (LD) task to assess children's word decoding skill was investigated. Participants in this study were Dutch second and third graders. Lexical decision and oral reading appear to be highly correlated, in second grade more than in third grade. Retest reliability of the LD tests is sufficient, at least for screening purposes, to good. The correlation with tests designed to measure pencil‐and‐paper test‐taking skills shows that such skills at most play a minor role. Materials of different phonological and morphological structure caused systematic differences in score level, but a single factor suffices to explain common reading test variance. LD scores appear not to be particularly subject to inappropriate strategies.