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Fast Track obtained permission to use this measure in our study, but we are not allowed to distribute it. To obtain a copy for your use, contact the source listed below.

George Spache
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CTB McGraw-Hill
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Spache Diagnostic Reading Scales

The Spache Diagnostic Reading Scale was published by G.D. Spache in 1963 (Spache, 1981), and has since then been revised in 1972 and 1981. The 1981 revision is being used as part of the FAST Track interview. The Spache is a set of individually administered tests for the evaluation of oral and silent reading abilities and auditory comprehension. It consists of five subtests: Recognition of Initial Consonants, Recognition of Final Consonants, Recognition of Initial Consonant Auditorily, Word Recognition, and Stories.

Abstract

The Spache Diagnostic Reading Scale was published by G.D. Spache in 1963 and has since then been revised in 1972 and 1981. The Spache is a set of individually administered tests for the evaluation of oral and silent reading abilities and auditory comprehension. It consists of five subtests: Recognition of Initial Consonants, Recognition of Final Consonants, Recognition of Initial Consonant Auditorily, Word Recognition, and Stories.

The 1981 revision is being used as part of the Fast Track interview. Two subtests (Word Recognition and Stories) were administered in Year 4. Word Recognition contains lists of 40 words each. Words in each list are ordered starting with the easier words and progressing to the more difficult words. The Stories subtest contains eight stories and comprehension questions for each story. The stories increase in difficulty.

Scales and subscores include:

Word List 2 Score: Sum of points for correct words on Word List 2
Word List 3 Score: Sum of points for correct words on Word List 3
Word List Total Sum Score: Word List 2 score + Word List 3 score
Oral Reading Scaled Story Score: For each story, Score = 1 - (# of errors / 25) No respondent can receive a score less than 0 for any story. If the score on a story is "no pass", scores for subsequent stories not used.
Oral Reading Scaled Sum Score: Sum of Oral Reading Scaled Story Scores for the eight stories. For example, if a respondent reads two stories with 5 oral errors on Story 1 and 15 errors on Story 2, then the score is .8 + .4 = 1.2.
Reading Comprehension Sum Score: Sum of the point for all stories on reading comprehension.
Composite Score: Word List Combined standard score + Oral Reading Scaled Sum standard score + Reading Comprehension Sum standard score.

T-tests of means show significant differences between the normative and control groups for the following: Word List Total Sum Score, Oral Reading Scaled Scores for Stories 3 through 8, Oral Reading Scaled Sum Score, Reading Comprehension Sum Score, and the Composite Score. For Year 4 respondents, alpha values for the Word List Total Sum Score are good and alpha values for the Oral Reading Scaled Sum Score are moderate. These scales should be useful, depending on the construct of interest.

Dataset Names

Raw Dataset Name: CyF
Scored Dataset Name: SPCySCc

Keywords

Reading Ability, Oral Comprehension, Vocabulary, Word Recognition, Letter Recognition, Verbal Skills