Types of Texts: The Match between What Students Read in Basals and What They Encounter in Tests

Abstract

EIGHT LEADING basal reading programs were analyzed to determine the types of writing included in each program from preprimers to sixth-grade readers and to determine the array of writing types in three standardized reading tests and assessment tests which are included in the basal programs. Teachers' manuals were also examined to determine whether provision was included for teaching children how to read a wide variety of writing types. The preponderance of selections in all of the readers was narrative (41 %); poems accounted for 24% of the total selections, and exposition accounted for 16%. A second measure examining page allocation indicated narrative writings accounted for more than 66% of the total pages. Two discrepancies between reading programs and standardized tests were noted: (1) Few whole texts were included in tests before the end of the second grade, and (2) most test passages were either narrative or expository; poetry and plays were not assessed.