Factor Validity of Cloze Tests as Measures of Reading Comprehension Ability

STUDIES THE factor validity of cloze tests as measures of comprehension ability by analyzing the principal components of the correlations among nine cloze tests and seven multiple-choice comprehension tests, each designed to measure a different comprehension skill. The tests were administered to 150 students enrolled in grades four, five, and six. Only one factor exhibited an eigen value greater than one and that factor accounted for 77 per cent of the variation in the correlation matrix. The loadings of all tests on this factor approached the maximum correlations possible for those tests. These data were interpreted as providing little grounds for claiming that cloze tests measure anything other than what has commonly been labeled reading comprehension skills.