I was very surprised to find that the Burt test dates back to 1938 but is still the basis on which all assessments have been based on since then.
There have been some modifications in recent versions to account for modern vocabulary but if anything I would say that the word list in today’s reading tests have become simplified compared to 70 years ago.
Here is a video of a modern corrective reading test in action – decide for yourself if standards have dropped :
The Burt test is more of a word recognition test than a reading comprehension test.
