Further studies on the reliability of reading tests

One hundred fifty-four children distributed almost equally throughout Grades IV to VIII were tested with six reading tests in order to discover (a) the reliability of each test and (b) the interrelations between tests. These tests were as follows: Monroe's Standardized Silent Reading Test, Courtis's Silent Reading Test, Stanford Reading Test, Thorndike-McCall Reading Scale, Lippincott-Chapman Reading Test, and Haggerty Reading Examination. In all cases save the Lippincott-Chapman Test two forms were given. By using the best known measure of reliability the Stanford test proved to be by far the most reliable (r = .93). The reliability of the tests ranged from .71 to .93. It would seem that 30-40 minutes are necessary for measuring silent reading reliably because the tests requiring fewer minutes than 30 are not sufficiently reliable for practical purposes.