A study of teachers' ratings of pupils' reading achievement, based on five factors identified by ten teachers in each of grades three and six

Connors, Genevieve Mae (1981) A study of teachers' ratings of pupils' reading achievement, based on five factors identified by ten teachers in each of grades three and six. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the criteria teachers consider when they assess their students in reading, and to determine whether they consider any one criterion more important than the others. In addition, an attempt was made to explore teachers' judgements of their students' reading ability. The study had three components: (1) an interview with teachers to ascertain the criteria by which they assess their students in reading, (2) an examination of teachers' ratings of hypothetical students, (3) a study of the correlations between teachers I ratings of their students I reading ability and the same students I scores on a standardized test. -- The sample used in the study consisted of 244 students and ten teachers from grade three and 294 students and ten teachers from grade six. The interview data revealed that the grade three teachers considered the following criteria: comprehension, reading skills, oral reading, vocabulary, interest, listening, and the basal reader reading level. In grade six the criteria named by teachers were: comprehension, vocabulary, oral reading, interest, application of reading skills to content subjects, and speed. In addition, all teachers agreed that comprehension was the most important criterion. The statistical analysis of teachers' ratings of hypothetical students supported the information gathered in the interview. Pearson correlations indicated that teachers generally considered a number of criteria related to reading ability. However, further analysis, using eta coefficients showed that when teachers' ratings and researchers' ratings were compared for each criterion separately, the relationship was stronger for some criteria, notably comprehension, than for others. The overall high correlations between teachers I ratings of their students I scores attained on a standardized test suggested that, to a considerable extent, teachers were judging their students relative to an established norm such as that indicated by the Canadian Test of Basic Skills. Furthermore, the reduction in the correlation coefficient computed between teachers' ratings and the reading test scores standardized within the class indicated that the position of the student within his own class was less important than the student's overall position. Consequently, it was concluded that teachers' ratings were more highly consistent with an established norm than with the relative position of the student within his own class.

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