A Sentence Verification Technique for Measuring Reading Comprehension

Two studies are reported which assess whether a sentence verification technique for measuring reading comprehension is sensitive to reading difficulty of text. Fifth and sixth grade students and fourth and sixth grade students read text passages two grade levels below reading level, at reading level, and two grades above reading level, and then responded to original, paraphrase, meaning change, or distractor sentences. Analysis of proportion correct and d' scores indicated that the technique was sensitive to text difficulty. A cumber of possible uses and advantages of the sentence verification technique are discussed.