Advanced DRP

Advanced DRP Tests

Advanced DRP tests assess how well students are able to reason with prose materials. Tests consist of nonfiction passages from which sentences have been omitted. Students are asked to fill in the conceptual gap by selecting the correct sentence from a set of multiple-choice options. Test items do not require prior topic knowledge to choose the correct answer; answering correctly depends upon comprehending and reasoning with the text.

Features of Advanced DRP Tests:

• Advanced DRP tests are not timed, although most students will complete a test within a class period.
• All Advanced DRP tests measure the same construct of reading—the ability to reason with prose.
• Advanced DRP scores are criterion-referenced, indicating the difficulty of material students are able to reason
  with successfully.
• Results can be used to select instructional materials, set performance standards, and measure growth.
• In addition to criterion-referenced test scores, student performance on Advanced DRP tests may be reported in
  terms of percentiles, stanines, and Normal Curve Equivalents (NCEs).

The ability to reason with prose, the Advanced DRP task, is a very high order cognitive process. The educational development of students should be taken into account when considering use of Advanced DRP tests. The ability to construct meaning from text (the Primary and Standard DRP task) is a necessary prerequisite. Therefore, Advanced DRP tests are usually considered most appropriate for students in the middle school grades and beyond. The table below describes the forms available and the grades in which they typically would be administered. At each level, parallel forms T and U are available for pre- and post-testing.