KHANA-2: A valid and reliable tool for assessing oral reading skills in Persian-speaking elementary students

Psychometrically robust Persian reading assessments are limited, particularly tools that simultaneously measure oral reading rate, accuracy, and comprehension. This study introduces and evaluates the psychometric properties of the assessment tool KHANA-2, consisting of two parallel booklets (A and B) with grade-appropriate passages. Content and face validity were confirmed by 20 experts. The sample included 260 typically developing readers and 15 students suspected of reading disorder in elementary students Grades 2-6. Reading rate, accuracy, and comprehension were assessed. A Multivariatelinear mixed model (MLMM) examined differences across grade levels, reading-status groups, and gender. Pearson correlations evaluated associations among components, and reliability was estimated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), Cronbach's alpha, and paired-sample t-tests comparing booklet performance. KHANA-2 showed strong construct validity, significantly differentiating performance across grade levels and between typically developing readers and those suspected of reading disorder (p < 0.001), with no gender effects (p > 0.05). Reading time and errors were positively correlated across booklets (r = .66-.68; p < .001), while both were negatively correlated with comprehension (r = -0.24 to -0.30; p < 0.001). Internal consistency ranged from α = 0.81-0.93 for rate, α = 0.58-0.82 for accuracy, and α = 0.32-0.65 for comprehension. Inter- and intra-rater reliability were excellent (ICC > 0.95). Although accuracy differed slightly between booklets (p = 0.002, d = 0.19), ICCs (0.77-0.85) supported parallel-form equivalence. Overall, KHANA-2 is a valid and reliable tool for assessing oral reading skills in Persian-speaking students in Grades 2-6.