One way to avoid the advantages that some participants may have as a result of background knowledge on a subject in a reading comprehension test is to offer texts that cover general content. The goal is that the subject matter will be equally familiar with all participants and offer no unique advantages to any participants. 

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- General Content
- A Wide Range of Content
- Measuring Background Knowledge

Ways to Avoid the Advantages of Background Knowledge

O’Reilly, T. & Sabatini, J. (2013). Reading for understanding: How performance moderators and scenarios impact assessment design. ETS Research Report Series, 2013(2), i–47. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2333-8504.2013.tb02338.x


Reading for understanding: How performance moderators and scenarios impact assessment design

General Content and Background Knowledge

In reading comprehension test, the advantage experience by participants with background knowledge can be limited by offering texts with a wide range of subjects. The goal is to offer enough diversity in subject matter that most readers will equally have some familiarity in some of the topics and little familiarity with other topics. 

A Wide Range of Content 

Testing the participant's topical knowledge before the formal test. This can include either related content or content directly from the reading portion. Measuring background knowledge serves to indicate how much a score is potentially impacted by background knowledge. 

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