Assessments Flashcards
What is a norm-referenced test?
a test that compares an individual’s performance to the average group’s performance. This group is the normative group
What question do norm-refererenced tests answer?
“How does my client compare to the average?”
What is a criterion referenced test?
a test that compares an individual’s performance to an expected level of performance based on age or level education
What question do criterion-referenced tests answer?
“How does my client compare to an expected level of performance?”
What is an authentic assessment/alternative assessment/nontraditional assessment approach?
A test that measures what a client can and cannot do based on context, such as observing a client in a real-life situation
What are examples of alternative assessment approaches?
language sampling, audiotaping, videotaping, real-life simulations, self-monitoring and self-assessment, structured symbolic play
What is validity?
Test claims to measure what it is supposed to measure
What is reliability?
test results can be reproduced
What are standardized tests?
tests that give standard procedures for administering and scoring the test
What are the three psychometric principles?
validity, reliability, and standardization
What is a dynamic assessment?
an informal assessment used to determine an individual’s potential to learn language
Which assessment method is typically used to distinguish disorder from difference?
dynamic assessment
Which assessment method uses the test, teach, and retest method?
dynamic assessment
What makes an assessment informal?
the procedures are not statistically based and there’s no established reliability or validity.
nWhat are features of a formal assessment?
consistent procedures; established reliability and validity; empircally or scientifically developed
Standardized does not mean _____
norm referenced
What are the pros of norm referenced tests?
eliminates administrator implicit bias, clear cut offs that you can interpret more easily, can be given to multiple clients; easy to administer, objective, other professionals and insurance companies recognize them, allows for comparison, time-efficient, necessary for eligibility
What are the cons of norm refernced tests?
Normative sample could be biasing for the client; limited and decontextualized; administration rules and test directions and test scoring allow for no flexibility
What are the pros of criterion referenced tests?
allows for comparison; specific to the age or developmental stage of an individual
What are the cons of criterion referenced tests?
criteria may not be up to date; may not be developmentally appropriate; decontextualized/limited;
What are the pros of interviews?
incorporates multiple perspectives, especially from individuals who know the client; can record detailed and client specific information; highly contextualized; can be done anywhere; naturalistic - the realest version of a client’s language
What are the cons of interviews?
potential of conflicting viewpoints from individuals who are participating in the interview; time consuming, tough to schedule, language barrier may be present; impacted by implicit biases; may not get all the information you need for an assessment
What are the pros of observations?
incorporates multiple perspectives, particularly from individuals who know the client; can capture detail and client specific information; highly contextualized; naturalistic; spontaneous; can be done anywhere
What are the cons of observations?
time consuming; can’t use it for eligibility; not reliable; cannot elicit behavior you want to see because you’re in the person’s natural environment; behavior impacted by presence of the evaluator; can be more difficult to do with children than with adults
What are the four types of reliability?
test-retest reliability, split-half reliability, rater reliability, and alternate form reliability
What is test-retest reliability?
the test results are the same when the same person takes the same test at different points in time.
What is split-half reliability?
one half of the test is of equal weight compared to the second half
What is rater reliability?
the reliability of the test administrator to administer and score a test correctly
What are the two subtypes of rater reliability?
intra-rater reliability and inter-rater reliability
What is inter-rater reliability?
the reliablity of an administrator’s scoring of a test compared to other administrators’s scoring of the same test
What is intra-rater reliability?
the reliability of an administrator’s scoring of a test without comparison to another administrator’s scoring of the same test in a particular period of time.
What is alternate form reliability?
a type of reliability that applies to standardized tests with two forms; the test results of both forms are reproducible
What are the types of validity?
face validity, content validity, construct validity, and criterion validity
What is face validity?
the test states, in its table of contents or introduction, that it measures what it claims to measure
What is content validity?
the instructions, questions, and items in a test are appropriate for what the test claims to measure. For instance, a receptive language standardized test should have a section of following directions and understanding spoken language
What is construct validity?
Scoring methods, questions, and instructions were created using scientific knowledge, theories, and developmental norms as a guide.
What is criterion validity?
a standardized test meets criteria to determine whether it’s valid.
What are the two subtypes of criterion validity?
concurrent validity and predictive validity
What is concurrent validity?
measure of how well a standardized test compares to other established standardized tests.
What is predictive validity?
measure of how well a standardized test will measure future performance in a given area.
What is a test considered if it is not valid?
the results from it are meaningless
What is a test considered if it is not reliable?
the results from it are not trustworthy
What is the raw score?
score obtained from completing a norm-referenced test; it indicates how many questions a person answered correctly; it is used to calculate and glean other scores.
Which type of score from completing norm-referenced tests is not interpretable?
raw score
What is the scaled standard score?
score obtained from completing a subtest of a norm-referenced test; it is interpretable based on the normal distribution curve; the raw score is used to glean the scaled score
What does the standard score (A.K.A. index score) represent?
It represents the number of standard deviations above or below the performance of the normative sample; you can use the standard score for comparison purposes.
What is an index score?
another type of standard score that is calculated based on specific subtest raw scores
What is the percentile rank?
indicates how well someone performed on a test compared to other people; e.g. if you are in the 60th percentile, then you scored better than 60% of individuals in the normative sample, but 40% of the sample scored better than you.
What are norm referenced and criterion referenced tests used for?
comparison
What is confidence interval?
a range of scores that an examinee may receive upon taken a norm referenced test. It is the range of scores that a particular standard scores will fall in. It considers the variance between an observed score and an expected score and it is a means to account for measurement error.
What are age and grade equivalents?
the average raw score of a certain age or grade from a section of the normative sample
that is often misinterpreted and a cause of misdiagnosis.
What should you do before administering a test?
read the manual, then determine the goal of the assessment, its psychometric qualities, and how your client compares to the normative sample; afterwards, read the instructions on how to administer the test
What should you do while administering a test?
Set up the testing environment so that it has all necessary materials, is comfortable for the client and accessible for them; follow all testing directions; do not provide feedback of the client’s performance during it
What are advantages of a language sample?
contextualized; actual language performance of a child; efficient tool to examine most ASHA areas; can complete with many partners so issue of rapport/support is reduced; supported by external scientific research
What are disadvantages of a language sample?
time; necessary to be comfortable with the procedure; MLU is only meaningful up to age 7; cost of software tools such as SALT; not eligible as evidence for someone to receive services in several schools
What are the pros of a curriculum-based informal assessment?
client specific, helps in all areas of a client’s educational success, understanding of language demands is incorporated
What are the cons of a curriculum-based informal assessment?
time consuming, only child focused, unrealistic to complete the entire curriculum and educational spectrum.
A standard score between 78 and 85 is judged to be
1 to 1.5 standard deviations below the mean and a mild communication disorder
A standard score between 71 and 77 is judged to be
1.5 to 2.0 standard deviations below the mean and a moderate communication disorder
A standard score of 70 and below is judged to be
2 standard deviations below the mean and a severe communication disorder
What must you base your interpretation of standard scores on?
on the normative sample and normal distribution curve
What scores are the best scores to use for diagnostic accuracy?
percentile rank, confidence interval, and standard scores
What is variation or variance?
refers to the dispersion of standard scores and answers the question: how far away is the person from the mean; it is calculated as the standard deviation
What is the central tendency?
mean or average of the sampled population
A 90% C.I. indicates
90% confidence that a score is between a selected range and there’s a 10% chance (i.e., 10% error) that the score will not fall in that range
A 95% C.I. indicates
95% confidence that a score is between a selected range and there’s a 5% chance (i.e., 5% error) that the score wil not fall in that range.
What is the basal?
the starting point of a test
What is the ceiling?
the ending point of a test due to the examinee answering a specific number of questions incorrectly.
What are the pros of reports?
can capture multiple perspectives; more timely than observations and interviews; contextualized; can capture a person’s language in real time;
What is the goal of interviews?
To gather specific information and perspectives of the stakeholder
What is the goal of reports?
To gather information from multiple perspectives via checklists, questionnaires, and rating scales
What is the goal of curriculum-based assessment?
to determine if the child has the skills to meet language expectations set in a curriculum
What is sensitivity
True positive
What is specificity?
True negative
