Predicting Adult Literacy Students' Reading Comprehension: Variations by Assessment Type

• In Event: 16.041 - Studies in Adult Literacy and Adult Learning

Abstract

This study investigates the relations among a battery of lower-level, word reading and higher-level, inferencing skills for adult literacy students. A 5-factor structure provides the best representation of the latent reading component skill constructs. We also examine the predictive utility of the lower- and higher-level component reading skills to reading comprehension. These results indicate that the importance of the component skills varies as a function of comprehension measure administered. Word reading fluency and vocabulary knowledge are uniquely predictive of a sentence-level comprehension measure whereas inferencing skills are uniquely predictive of a passage-level comprehension measure. These findings suggest a need to administer multiple measures of comprehension to fully understand the complexity and underlying component processes involved in adults’ reading comprehension skills.

Authors

• Elizabeth Tighe, Georgia State University

• Amy Marcelle Johnson, Arizona State University - Tempe

• Danielle S. McNamara, Arizona State University