b. Reading Comprehension Assessment
Assessment is the process of observing and measuring learning Penn: 2012. Teachers use assessment in reading to make sure that students are making
measurable progress. They evaluate a students level of achievement and skill for the purpose of supporting and improving student
s‘ learning. Regarding a measure,
in selecting a test or assessment procedure, it is important to select a measure that closely matches the users‘ needs or purpose. According to
Klingner 2007: 17, teachers should consider numerous factors when choosing a test or assessment procedure. Those factors are presented as follows.
1 The purpose of the testing screening, progress monitoring, assessing level of reading, research, or assessing students‘
competence in comparison to peers. 2 The specific information needed about the student‘s reading
comprehension types of questions missed, level. 3 The number of students being tested i.e., an individual, a small
group, or a whole class. 4 The length of the test e.g., shorter tests can be easier to give and
less stressful for the student, but may not have enough questions or types of tasks to provide sufficient information about a
student‘s performance. 5 Whether the test is an individually or group-administered test.
6 The number of forms available with the test, particularly if multiple administrations are needed e.g., many norm-referenced
tests come with two forms, making them useful for assessing progress over time
—students are given one version of the test as a pretest and another as a posttest.
7 For norm-referenced tests, the extent to which the norming sample is similar to the students to whom the test will be
administered. 8 The examiner‘s qualifications e.g., whether the tester has the
skills to give highly specific tests. 9 The amount of training needed to administer a test, score it, and
interpret results e.g., norm-referenced tests typically require some training.
B. Relevant Studies
There are some studies related to this study that were previously conducted by other researchers. The first researchers are Klinger and Vaughn. They
conducted the research in 1998 with 26 seventh and eighth graders with low
learning abilities who used English as a second language. In this study, students learn to use modified reciprocal teaching methods in cooperative learning groups
i.e., brainstorm, predict, clarify words and phrases, highlight main idea, summarize main ideas and important detail, and ask and answer the questions. It
was found that CSR was effective in improving reading comprehension for most of the students with low learning abilities. In 2000, they implemented CSR with
fourth graders with a wide range of reading levels. Students in the CSR group significantly outperformed those in the control group on comprehension. In a
subsequent study, fifth grade students were taught to apply CSR by trained classroom teachers during English as a Second Language ESL science classes. It
was shown that the students significantly increased their vocabulary from pre- to post-testing. Furthermore, students in CSR groups spent greater amounts of time
engaged in academic related strategic discussion and assisted one and another while using CSR.
The second researcher is Fan who conducted a research in 2010. The research
was conducted on 110 Taiwanese students from two intact classes. The purpose of the research is to
investigate the impact of CSR towards EFL Taiwanese students‘ reading comprehension. The questionnaire and standardized reading pre-test, post-
test and interviews were used to gather the data. The research findings showed that
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