Performance of Deaf College Students on a Criterion-Referenced, Modified Cloze Test of Reading Comprehension

This study examined the performance of 100 deaf college students on the "Degrees of Reading Power" (DRP) test, which uses a modified cloze procedure to assess reading ability in relation to prose difficulty. A bimodal distribution of DRP scores was obtained and compared with the prose difficulty of various reading materials. The mean test score for postlingually deaf subjects was significantly higher than for prelingually deaf subjects. DRP reading scores were significantly correlated with degree of hearing loss for prelingually deaf students and with articulation ability, but showed no significant correlation with speechreading ability or sign communication experience. The educational and research potential of this test for deaf students is discussed.