Education Endowment Foundation: Progress in Reading Assessment Primary

SubscalesⓘList of subscales (if applicable)

N/​a

Publisher

RS Assessment from Hodder Education

Test source

https://www.risingstars-uk.com/series/assessment/rising-stars-pira-tests

Guidelines available?ⓘAdministration guidelines available to the review team

Yes

Norm-referenced scores

Yes

Age rangeⓘSpecific population and age range that publisher states the test is intended/​suitable for. 

5 – 11 years

Key Stage

Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2

UK standardisation sample

Yes

Publication date

2016

Re-norming date

N/​a

Additional information about what the test measures

Reading attainment

Are additional versions available?

Termly tests (Reception: spring, summer; Years 1 – 9: autumn, spring, summer). Manual Stage 1: Reception to Year 2.Manual Stage 2: Years 3 – 6Manual Stage 3: Years 7 – 9 Pencil and paper or online interactive (PiRA Interactive). PiRA Scotland tagged to Scottish curriculum. Original PiRA (standardised 2009) is now out of print, questions were updated for new national curriculum. Note that New PiRA will be published 2020/2021.

Can subtests be administered in isolation?

No subtests, but Key Stage 1 PiRA questions are categorised into strands in relation to focus on phonics, comprehension (literal understanding and retrieval) and becoming a reader (inference and prediction from text along with appreciation of language, structure and presentation). The Reception and Year 1 tests allow differentiation between scores on phonics/​decoding and reading in context. Key Stage 2 PiRA questions are categorised into strands in relation to focus on comprehension (literal understanding and retrieval), inference (prediction from text), with appreciation of language, structure and presentation.

Administration Group Size

Small group, Whole class

Administration duration

Key Stage 1: 30 – 40 minutes. Reception and Year 1 can take two short breaks. Key Stage 2: 30 – 50 minutes.

Description of materials needed to administer test

Manual. Paper version: each pupil will require a test booklet, pencil/​pen, eraser. Digital version: each pupil will require an interactive test credit and a computer/​tablet.

Any special testing conditions?

No

Is any prior knowledge/training/profession accreditation required for administration?

Not stated (no)

Is administration scripted?

N/​a

Rating Construct

Does it reflect the multidimensionality of the subject?

Generic literacy

Construct validity comments (and reference for source)

Tests have good face validity — tests were developed to align with national curriculum guidance. 2^nd edition was developed to align to the 2014 national curriculum and 2015 test frameworks. However, there is little information about the theory of reading or theoretical constructs, nor is there any statistical analyses presented to support this assessment of validity. The Key Stage 1 Manual states that validity was assessed by checking correlations between pupils’ test scores and age, and by examining children in Year 2 and Year 6 who took the same summer PiRA tests in subsequent years. However, no statistics are presented. The Key Stage 2 Manual states that validity was assessed by checking correlations between pupils’ test scores and age, 7 cohorts (10,000 pupils) were tracked termly over an academic year, and data from 1800 children in Year 2 and Year 6 who took the same summer PiRA tests in subsequent years were compared. However, no statistics are presented.

Rating Reliability

Summarise available comparisons

Internal consistency was excellent in the initial PiRA standardisation, but not reported for the second edition restandardisation or equating studies. Note, 20% of questions were changed for the second edition. However, 2^nd edition equating study showed excellent correlations between original PiRA and 2^nd Edition pearson coefficient .94 – .99 for Key Stage 1 and .94 – .99 for Key Stage 2 (see p63 of stage 1 manual and p80 of Stage 2 manual for further detail). Key stage 1: Cronbach’s alpha .87 – .94; SEM 1.86 – 2.08; 90% confidence bands +/-2.97 – 3.32; 95% confidence bands +/-4.1 – 3.72. Key Stage 2: Cronbach’s alpha .89 – .94; SEM 2.26−2.73; 90% confidence bands +/-3.62 – 4.37; 95% confidence bands +/-4.52 – 5.46. Unclear whether paper or digital versions were used in standardisation. Although large scale studies were conducted tracking pupil performance over 4 terms (in order to calculate the Hodder scale), no information given about equivelance reliability of digital/​paper versions, or the different forms.

Sources

McCarty, C., & Ruttle, K. (2016). Progress in Reading: Manual Stage 1 (Reception, Year 1, Year 2) (Second Edition ed.). London, UK: RS Assessment from Hodder Education. McCarty, C., & Ruttle, K. (2016). Progress in Reading Assessment: Manual Stage 2 (Year 3 to Year 6) (Second Edition ed.). London, UK: RS Assessment from Hodder Education.