A Comparison of Achievement Test Performance of nondisabled Students Under Silent Reading and Reading Plus Listening Modes of Administration

Average performance on four subtests of the Iowa Tests of Educational Development was compared under two types of test administration. The first adhered to the publisher's standardized directions and time limits. The second permitted students to listen to audiotapes of the test material on individual cassette players as they read the test booklet. No time limits were imposed on the high school students under this second mode of administration. Each of the four subtests — Interpretation of Literary Materials, Analysis of Social Studies Materials, Use of Sources of Information, and Vocabulary-imposes substantial reading, demands on the examinee. Only on the literary materials test did students score significantly higher via the tape-assisted administration. Significant differential effects were found as a function of level of reading ability for this test and for the social studies test. Poor readers were helped by the use of the tapes, whereas good readers did not benefit from the use of the tapes. Correlations corrected for attenuation indicate that the two modes of administration measure essentially the same attributes when students exhibit no learning disabilities or reading problems.