Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Measure of Reading Strategy Use

• In Event: Strategic Approaches for Literacy Development

Abstract

This study describes the process of developing and validating a multidimensional measure of reading strategy use. The BEAR Assessment System (BAS; Wilson, 2005) was employed to develop a series of items related to four dimensions of strategy use ability: morphological awareness, knowledge of cognates, ability to relate micro- and macro- ideas within a text, and the ability to use intra- and inter-sentential context clues for defining unfamiliar words. All items were piloted with 1,359 middle school students attending one of two schools within a large urban school district. Findings from cognitive interviews, Rasch analysis, and associations with external reading comprehension tests provide evidence of the validity for all but one of the four dimensions.

Authors

• Diana J. Arya, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Susan Ebbers, University of California - Berkeley

• Andrew Maul, University of California, Santa Barbara

• Alison Gould Boardman, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Janette K. Klingner, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Amy Lynn Boele, University of Colorado - Denver