Are Learning Disabled Students "Test-Wise?": An Inquiry into Reading Comprehension Test Items

Abstract

Previous research has indicated that students in many cases can answer reading comprehension test questions correctly without having read the accompanying passage. The present research compared, in two experiments, the ability of learning disabled (LD) students and more typical age peers to answer such reading comprehension questions presented independently of reading passages. In Study 1, learning disabled students scored appreciably lower under conditions resembling standardized administration procedures. In Study 2, reading decoding ability was controlled for; however, the performance differential remained the same. Results suggested a relative deficiency on the part of LD students with respect to reasoning strategies and test-taking skills. In addition, the validity of some tests of "reading comprehension" was discussed.

Comparing Prospective Twice-Exceptional Students With High-Performing Peers on High-Stakes Tests of Achievement

“…Another unintended construct that has the potential to influence students’ standardized test performance is general test-taking skills. Students with learning disabilities have been shown to have poorer test-taking skills than students without learning disabilities (Scruggs, Bennion, & Lifson, 1985; Scruggs & Lifson, 1986; Scruggs & Marsing, 1988; Scruggs & Mastropieri, 1988). Although the influence of learning disabilities on students’ test performance has been studied widely, little is known about how these consequences are influenced by the additional interaction of giftedness (i.e., twice-exceptionality).…”

Do Students With Specific Learning Disorders With Impairments in Reading Benefit From Linguistic Simplification of Test Items in Science?

“…Second, we cannot rule out that the main effect of SLD-IR can be traced back to students' ability to guess the correct answers. Scruggs and Lifson (1984) illustrated that students with learning disorders are significantly better at guessing at random than their peers without learning disorders. The authors assume that this effect might partly be explained by their lower reading comprehension and other factors, such as attention deficits or test anxiety.…”

Association of Educational Therapists: Position Paper on the SAT

“…Researchers began in the 1980s to seriously investigate the role of time in academic performance (Ackerman & Dykman, 1982;Alster, 1997;Bruch, 1981;Ceci, 1982;Cermak, 1983;Denckla & Rudel, 1976;Hayes, Hynd, & Wisenbaker, 1986;Jackson & McClelland, 1979;Jarvis, 1996;Morgan, Harris, Bernstein, & Waber, 2000;Ofiesh, 1997;Runyan, 1991aRunyan, , 1991bScruggs & Lifson, 1986;Shaywitz, 2000;Speece, 1987;Weaver, 2000). The body of literature on this issue has been growing in proportion to societal concern.…”