Developing Three Formats for Assessing Online Reading Comprehension: The ORCA (Online Reading Comprehension Assessment) Project Year 3

• In Event: Roundtable Session 24
  In Roundtable Session: Reading Practices

Abstract

This roundtable session presents the developmental procedures and outcomes of work on the Online Reading Comprehension (ORCA) Project. The purpose of the ORCA Project is to develop valid, reliable, and practical assessments of online reading comprehension. This project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, is a partnership with Maine, Connecticut, and North Carolina. The roundtable will describe development and revision procedures used to create 24 innovative assessments of online reading comprehension in three formats: ORCA-Open, ORCA-Closed, and ORCA-Multiple Choice. Each evaluates students’ ability to solve informational problems with online information within the domain of science. A Facebook-like interface with chat and texting capabilities is used, along with an internal search engine (Gloogle) and both email and wikis.

Authors

• Donald J. Leu, University of Connecticut

• Julie Coiro, University of Rhode Island

• Jonna M. Kulikowich, The Pennsylvania State University

• Nell Sedransk, National Institute of Statistical Sciences

• Heidi Everett-Cacopardo, University of Connecticut

• Greg McVerry, Southern Connecticut State University

• W. Ian O'Byrne, University of New Haven

• Michael Hillinger, Lexicon Systems LLC

• Lisa Zawilinski, University of Hartford

• Clint Kennedy, University of Connecticut

• Elena E. Forzani, University of Connecticut