Test Review: J. L. Wiederholt & B. R. Bryant. (2012). Gray Oral Reading Tests—Fifth Edition (GORT-5). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed

The first edition of the Gray Oral Reading Tests (GORT, 1963) was written by Dr. William S. Gray, a founding member and the first president of the International Reading Association. The GORT was designed to measure oral reading abilities (i.e., Rate, Accuracy, Fluency, and Comprehension) of students in Grades 2 through 12 due to the noteworthy advantages this type of assessment has over silent reading assessments (e.g., ability for the examiner to analyze miscues and identify an individual's ability to make letter-sound correspondences). Through the years, revisions of the GORT were published in 1986 (GORT-R), 1992 (GORT-3), and 2001 (GORT-4). The latest edition published in 2012 (GORT-5) includes updated norms extending from 6 years 0 months upward to 23 years 11 months, streamlined basal and ceiling rules, revised items that are passage dependent, and additional studies showing evidence of sound psychometric properties (Wiederholt & Bryant, 2012a). The purposes of the GORT-5 are to identify students with oral reading difficulties, determine strengths and weaknesses, evaluate student progress, and provide a standardized norm-referenced test that is appropriate for conducting reading research with school-age children (Wiederholt & Bryant, 2012a). The GORT-5 should be administered individually by examiners trained in formal assessment such as teachers, school psychologists, and diagnosticians. Overall, the GORT-5 is a thorough oral reading assessment with sound psychometric properties. When used by properly trained professionals, this tool (in conjunction with parent and teacher observations) can help diagnose students with reading difficulties, monitor student progress, inform administrators and policy makers on the effectiveness of interventions, and provide valuable information for researchers.