Published and unpublished studies (N = 135) of the facilitative effect of advance organizers on learning and retention were examined. Possible influencing variables such as grade level, subject area studied, organizer presentation mode, and subject ability level were also examined in relation to advance organizer effect. Advance organizers were shown to have a facilitative effect on both learning and retention.

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Abstract. Investigated maze test comparability and parallel form reliability; investigated whether different teachers could construct comparable maze tests over the same reading passage when given the same directions. Twenty-two teachers independently prepared two maze tests using two second reader passages. Three of the 22 sets of maze tests were then randomly selected for use with 246 second grade students. Each subject completed two maze forms, one of three possible forms for each of the two reader passages. The findings revealed that the teachers were able to prepare reliable, congruent maze tests of comparable difficulty if they properly followed the directions provided for test construction. With one exception the maze forms showed overall high reliability and congruence as well as comparability. An inspection of the items on the single maze form which was less reliable and which was neither congruent nor comparable revealed that the teacher who prepared the test did not follow directions and failed to compose a number of valid options.The foundation of effective and efficient reading instruction is systematic and valid assessment. If one accepts the position that the act of reading consists essentially of the reception and processing of information, the measurement of reading comprehension assumes central importance.There is a real need for a valid informal reading comprehension assessment tool which can be constructed and used by classroom teachers to initiate instructional placement and monitor subsequent student progress. To be valid for such purposes, the instrument should consist of content sampled directly from the reading materials used by the students. To be of practical use in the classroom an instrument should be easy to: (a) construct, (b) administer in a group situation, and (c) interpret through objective scoring.One informal means of assessing reading comprehension which appears to hold promise for classroom use is the maze procedure (Guthrie, 1973). A maze test may be based upon a passage sampled from any book which contains a Reprints may be requested from Dr. Bradley,

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