The effects of time limits and reading comprehension performance on the Canadian Tests of Basic Skills

Colbert, Fred P. (1983) The effects of time limits and reading comprehension performance on the Canadian Tests of Basic Skills. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of time limits and reading ability on performance on the Canadian Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS). To do this, the experimenter posed the following major questions: (1) Are the prescribed time limits for the CTBS adequate so that the results of these tests are valid indices of the abilities being tested? (2) Are differences in levels of reading comprehension associated with corresponding differences in levels of CTBS performance? (3) Is there an interaction between levels of reading ability and time limits which lead to misrepresentation of the abilities of specific groups of examinees? – Subjects were classified into groups of high, medium and low reading ability and were then randomly assigned to one of two possible time limit administrations of the CTBS. It was found that time conditions were responsible for no significant variation in performance of the subjects on the CTBS, except on the reading subtest. On all subtests, the extended time limit group surpassed the standard time limit group, but significant levels of variation were achieved only on the reading subtest. – It was also found that reading ability was a major factor in determining performance on the CTBS. The high reading ability group scored significantly higher than the medium and low groups on all subtests of the battery. The medium reading ability group, in turn, scored significantly higher than the low reading ability group, achieving significance on all subtest except punctuation and math computation. – On the entire battery, females outperformed males, achieving significant levels of variation on all subtests but reading a vocabulary. – On the basis of these findings, it was concluded that sex and reading ability were major determinants of performance on the CTBS for the subjects of this study. Time was not considered to be a major factor influencing performance except for the reading subtest.

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