Dowd and Bartlett (2019) tested the reading competencies of second graders attending Save the Children programs in 11 countries. They used sixty-word passages and comprehension questions without time limits and analyzed data of students reading more than 10 words per minute. They found wide disparities in speed among those who showed high comprehension rates between-countries and within-country. They interpreted the findings as diminishing the role of speed in early-grade assessment and instruction. However, the study has major issues on three fronts: (a) use of English-language studies for transparent orthographies, (b) disregard of current neurocognitive research on memory functions, and (c) sample selectivity. These raise grave concerns regarding the internal and external validity of the conclusions. The authors’ dedication is admirable, but their findings do not justify any policy recommendations. To the contrary, given the importance of speed for comprehension, their recommendations may have the perverse effect of disadvantaging the very students that Save the Children is supporting. Researchers and journals have the ethical obligation to publish studies that reflect contemporary reading research.

中文翻译：

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为什么快速轻松的阅读对于理解必不可少

Dowd 和 Bartlett (2019) 测试了在 11 个国家/地区参加救助儿童会计划的二年级学生的阅读能力。他们使用了 60 字的段落和没有时间限制的理解题，并分析了每分钟阅读超过 10 个字的学生的数据。他们发现，在国家间和国内理解率较高的人之间，速度差异很大。他们将这些发现解释为削弱了速度在早期评估和教学中的作用。然而，该研究在三个方面存在主要问题：（a）将英语研究用于透明拼写法，（b）无视当前对记忆功能的神经认知研究，以及（c）样本选择性。这引起了人们对结论的内部和外部有效性的严重关切。作者的敬业精神令人钦佩 但他们的发现并不能证明任何政策建议是合理的。相反，鉴于速度对理解的重要性，他们的建议可能会产生不利影响，使救助儿童会所支持的学生处于不利地位。研究人员和期刊有道德义务发表反映当代阅读研究的研究。