GORT-4
Gray Oral Reading Test
 What is the GORT:
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The GORT is a norm-referenced, reliable and valid test of oral reading
rate, accuracy, fluency and comprehension.
 What is its purpose:

Identify student with problems.
 Determine strengths and weaknesses.
 Document progress.
 Conduct research.
 Who is it used for:
 The GORT should only be used on individuals ages 6-18.
 It can be used on students 1st through 12th grade.
 The GORT is nonbiased, can be used on any gender, race and ethnicity.
 Norming:
 Sample Selection Procedures:
 The GORT was normed on a sample of 1,677 persons in 28 states.
 Standardized sites were selected in each of the four major geographic
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regions as designated by the U.S Bureau of the Census.
 A site coordinator was selected for each location to supervise test
administration.
 All students tested attended general classes.
 Students with disabilities who were enrolled in general classes were
included in the normative sample.
 Several hundred students in grades 1st through 12th were tested at each
major site.
Demographic Characteristics of the Sample:
 The characteristics of the sample were with regard to geographic region,
gender, race, rural or urban residence, ethnicity, family income,
educational attainment of parents and disability.
 To further demonstrate the representativeness of the sample, the
following demographic categories were stratified by age: geographic
region, gender, race, ethnicity, parental income and parental education.
Equating Procedures:

 The GORT provides examiners with two forms of the test, which contain
different reading passages to diminish the effects of practice.
 The two forms of the GORT were equated using a linear equating
procedure. This method was chosen for three reasons:
1. Each examinee took both forms of the test.
2. The distribution of raw scores was nearly equivalent for both
forms.
3. One form was not uniformly more difficult than the other.
 Have to use an equation to even out the scores.
Normative Scores:
 Standard Score for the Subtest and Composite
o Norms for the GORT subtests are presented in terms of standard
scores having a mean of 10 and a standard deviation of 3.
o This method uses polynomial regression to fit the progression of
means, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis across age
groups (6-0 through 18-11)
o These fitted values were estimated at each 6 month age interval.
o The resulting data across age levels were smoothed somewhat to
allow for a consistent progression across age levels.
o The standard score that corresponds to the Oral Reading Quotient
was calculated by applying Guilford and Fruchter’s procedure for
pooling variances.
o This formula is used to pool the standard scores from fluency and
comprehension, which make up the quotient.
o The quotient has a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.
 Percentiles
o Examiners locate the student’s raw score in the appropriate table
and then locate the corresponding percentile in the left-hand
column.
 Age and Grade Equivalents
o These values indicate the age or grade level that corresponds to a
raw or converted score made by a student on one of the GORT
subtests.
o The average scores of all students in each school grade or age
level between 1st and 12th grade were computed and plotted on a
graph that had raw or converted scores on the x-axis and grade
levels or age in months on the y-axis.
 Conversion Scores
o The fluency score is used as a simple, uniform criterion for
determining basals and ceilings throughout the test that is
unaffected by the increasing length of the passages as they
become more difficult.
o The values that represent the fastest and most accurate readers
in the top 25% (100-76%) were given a converted score of 5, the
next quarter readers in the top 25% (75-51%) were given a
converted score of 4, and the third quarter (50-26%) were given a
converted score of 3.
o The bottom quarter was given three separate values: scores
representing 25-16% of the sample were given a converted score
of 2, 15% through 6% were assigned 1 and values attained less
than 6% of the sample were converted to 0.
 Cautions of the test:
 The GORT provides examiners with two forms of the test which contain different
reading passages to diminish the effects of practice.
 No matter how carefully the reading passages have been controlled to be of
equal difficulty, one form of the test will be somewhat more difficult than the
other form.
 How the test works:
 Time
 Can be given in about 15-45 minutes, depending on the student’s reading
ability.
 Best if given in one session, two sessions are sometimes required if
reader becomes fatigued or uncooperative.
 Forms of the Test
 Form A
 Form B
 The two forms of the GORT were equated using a linear equating
procedure.
 Only one form needs to be given.
 Starting Points
 Grades 1 and 2 start at story 1
 Grades 3 and 5 start at story 3
 Grades 5-8 start at story 5
 Grades 9-12 start at story 9
 Prompting and Timing The Reader

 Open both the profile/examiner record booklet and the student’s book to
the first story that is to be read by the student.
 Have a stopwatch at hand.
 Read aloud the prompt found above the story in the profile/examiner
record booklet.
 Point to the start of the story and say begin.
 Start timer and follow along as the student reads the story.
 When the reader is done reading the passage, stop the timer and record
the number of seconds the student took to read the story in the space
marked “Time (in seconds)”.
Marking Deviations From Print
 Deviations may be marked in one of two ways in the profile/examiner
record booklet.
1. A simple slash marking system.
2. A separate marking system for a miscue analysis.
 Slash marking system
o Record each deviation within the story.
o Place a slash (/) using the criteria that follows.
o Place a slash on each word that is not read correctly.
o Place a slash on the word if the student pauses for word
providing. That is, if a student pauses for 5 seconds without
making an audible attempt to read a word.
o If the student attempts to sound out the word, give him or her 10
seconds to decode; then say the word, mark the deviation and
continue.
o For self-corrections, place a slash on the gap before the word
corrected.
o If the student reads, “Jon is a really neat and good boy”. Place a
slash between the word where the addition is made:
Jon is a / good boy.
o For repetitions, place a slash after the word repeated.
o If the reader skips a line, stop the timer, direct the student’s
attention to the correct line and begin timing when the first word
is said. This is scored as one deviation.
o After a student completes a story, sum the number of slashes.
o Record this total below each passage in the profile/examiner
record booklet, on the line labeled, “Deviations from print”.
 Miscue Marking System
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o A more in-depth analysis can be done by supplementing the slash
marking system by writing down each specific oral substitution
miscue made by the student.
o Self-corrections are noted by writing the miscue and an arrow (=>)
pointing to the text word that was corrected.
Determining Rate, Accuracy and Fluency Scores
 Under each story in the profile/examiner record booklet is a conversion
table.
 The top row of the table is a 0-5 point conversion scare, each number
having its own column.
 The second row contains the reading time values.
 To convert time to a rate score, simply find in the time row the time is
seconds it took the student to read the story.
 The third row contains the deviations from print values.
 To convert deviations from print to an accuracy score, match the number
of miscues made by the reader to its corresponding number in the
column.
 Fluency score is derived by simply summing the rate and accuracy score
for each story.
Determining Comprehension Score
 The examiner reads the comprehension questions.
 As you read aloud the questions and response choices the student
follows along in the student book.
 Students are not allowed to return to the passage to scan for the answers
to the questions.
 Examiner reads everything that is in red.
 If the reader correctly answers the question, place a (1) in the space next
to the item number on the profile/examiner record booklet.
 If they answer incorrectly, place a (0) in that space.
 After all questions have been administered, count the number of correct
answers and record the sum in the comprehension score box at the end
of the questions.
Counting and Recording Specific Types of Miscues
 To use their system, examiners must analyze the student’s miscues on at
least two different stories.
 A minimum of 25 miscues must be analyzed.
 The examiner’s worksheet in Section V of the profile/examiner record
booklet is used to classify the reader’s miscues.
 A (1) is placed in the appropriate box on the right side of the worksheet
to note that a miscue fits a particular category.
 A (0) is placed in the box if the miscue does not fit the category.
 Meaning Similarity
o The examiner assesses meaning similarity to determine the extent
of the student’s use of comprehension strategies in reading.
 Function Similarity
o The examiner assesses function similarity to judge the extent to
which the student uses appropriate grammar in reading.
 Graphic/Phonemic Similarity
o The examiner decides whether the miscue has similar affixes, root
and vowel sounds or consonant sounds.
 Multiple Sources
o The examiner marks the multiple sources box for those miscues
that fit more than one category to derive information about the
student’s use of multiple reading strategies.
 Self-Correction
o The examiner assesses self-correction to determine the extent to
which the student uses strategies to correct miscues.
 Calculation Miscues
o Once all miscues have been categorized sum the points and write
the totals at the bottom of the appropriate columns in section V
of the profile/examiner record booklet.
 Observing Reading Behaviors
 Space is provided in section VI of the profile/examiner record booklet to
record other types of miscues and general impressions and observations
of reading behaviors.
 How to determine basal and ceiling:
 Basal and Ceiling
 Only fluency and comprehension scores are used to determine basal and
ceiling.
 To achieve a basal for the comprehension score, the examiner tests until
the student misses at least three of five comprehension questions for one
story (the ceiling) or until the final story is read.
 Once a ceiling is reached, the examiner goes back and establishes a basal
if one has not been established on the way to reaching the ceiling.
 The basal is the point at which the student correctly answered all five
questions for a story in reaching the ceiling, the examiner returns to the
entry level (the first story that was read) and tests downward until a
basal is achieved or until the first story has been read.
 What materials are needed:
 Stopwatch
 Examiner’s manual
 Student book
 Form A or B, whichever one you will be giving
 Pen or pencil
 Test Interpretation:
 Derived Scores
 The rate score and accuracy score are both derived using the converting
time and deviations from print to rate and accuracy conversion table.
 In the conversion table, the top column is used to convert the time into
the rate score. The bottom column is the deviation from print row, the
deviations from print is used to convert into an accuracy score.
 The rate score is a score determined by the amount of time (in seconds)
it took for the student to read one particular passage.
 The examiner can use the conversion table to find the amount of time it
took for the student to read the passage and correlate it with the number
located a row above to find the correct score.
 The derived accuracy score is also found using the conversion table.
o The examiner counts the number of deviations the student had
for the same particular passage and locates that number in the
conversion chart.
o At the top of the column where the deviation amount was found,
will be a number. That number is the accuracy score.
 Once the rate and accuracy scores have been calculated, the fluency rate
can be found by simply adding the rate and accuracy scores together.
 How to interpret results
 Scoring is broken into four main categories for this test. Time, deviations
from print, comprehension score and converting time and deviations
from print to rate and accuracy.
 Time:
o Time is tracked in seconds; this score refers to the amount of time
it takes for the student to read each story.
 Deviations from print:
o The deviation from print score is a score calculated by the number
of errors the student makes while reading the text.
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o Any time the student makes an alteration to a word, it is marked
as one deviation.
Comprehension score:
o At the end of each story read, there are five comprehension
questions asked. The student is given a score 0-5 by adding the
number of correct answers together.
Converting time and deviations from print to rate and accuracy.
o For this score, time (in seconds) gets converted into a rate score
and the deviations from print get converted into an accuracy
score.
o By adding the rate and accuracy score together a fluency score is
calculated.
Standard score
o The standard score is found by using the total score (number
correct) on a distribution with a mean of 1- and a standard
deviation of 3 for each one of the three categories.
o If a student scores 8 or above, that individual is considered to be
average or above average.
Percentile rank
o Percentile rank is based on a score of 1-99.
o If a student receives a percentile rank of 65, this means that 65%
of their comparable peers scored the same or below.
Age/Grade equivalent
o This method is the least popular because the results are often
misleading.
o This score is calculated by using the normative group score at
each age and grade level.
 The Results:
 The main purpose of the GORT is to identify individuals who are struggling with
reading proficiency. By comparing a student’s oral reading ability to that of their
peers, can help determine if a reading deficit is present.
 The GORT is also an excellent tool to identify a student’s strengths and
weaknesses as a reader.
 Scores such as, rate, accuracy, fluency and comprehension can give
administration an idea of how a student is doing and if help is needed.
 The results of the test are also very important for documentation purposes.
 If a child is struggling and needs an education plan, the GORT is a great
source for tracking how a student is doing.

The results of the GORT can lead to a diagnosis of a student’s reading problem
and can also identify a student’s overall reading ability and skill.
 Psychometrics:
 Reliability
 Reliability is the amount of consistency that a test measures ability.
 The GORT is considered to have a high degree of reliability.
 There are three types of reliability that are looked at before determining
how reliable a test is; content sampling, test-retest and scorer
differences.
o The GORT scored high in reliability across all three categories.
 There is a very low level of standard error of measurement when looking
at the results of the GORT.
o A low test error can give the examiner confidence that the results
are reliable.
 When making a decision about an individual’s education, an assessment
should have a test reliability score of .90 or above.
o The GORT reliability numbers round to or exceed this expectation.
 Validity
 Validity is the amount of confidence we have that the rest is measuring
what it is supposed to be measuring.
 The GORT is a valid way to measure an individual’s reading performance
and this test can be used with confidence.
 To measure tests validity three categories should be assessed; content
description, criterion prediction and construct identification.
 The content of the GORT is specifically chosen to be sure to meet the
expectations of what the GORT is asking.
 The words and sequencing used in the stories throughout the GORT are
written in such a way that will be normative across ages and
demographics.
 The validity of the test grows with research done on about the test
overtime.
 The results of the GORT are valid throughout subgroups and the general
population.
 There have been multiple studies conducted on the GORT-R, GORT-3 and
now the GORT-4. These studies show a high amount of test validity.
 Overall Quality of the GORT
 The overall quality of the GORT-4 is high; it is an effective way to measure
an individual’s strength or weakness in reading. The GORT can be an
objective way to help diagnosis a student’s reading difficulties and to
monitor the growth of reading comprehension.
 Conclusion:
 Thoughts on the GORT
 The GORT is a reliable test to give students.
 It is easy to learn how to give the GORT.
 The test does not take much time to give so it won’t interfere with the
student’s learning.
 It allows many different age groups and subgroups to be tested.
 Alternative tests that can be used
 Gray Silent Reading Tests (GDRT)
 Gray Diagnostic Reading Tests – Second Edition.