Chapter 9

Question 0

achievement tests

Answer 0

standardized tests measuring how much students have learned in a given content area

Question 1

accountability

Answer 1

mandated obligation of teachers and other school personnel to accept responsibility for students’ performance on high stakes assessments

Question 2

age-equivalent score

Answer 2

test score indicating the age level of students to whom a test taker performed most similarily

Question 3

analytic score

Answer 3

scoring a student’s performance on an assessment by evaluating various aspects of it separately

Question 4

anecdotal records

Answer 4

narrative accounts of observed student behavior or performance

Question 5

aptitude tests

Answer 5

standardized tests designed to predict the potential for future learning and measure general abilities developed over long periods of time

Question 6

assessment

Answer 6

process of observing a sample of a student’s behavior and drawing inferences about the student’s knowledge and abilities

Question 7

authentic assessment

Answer 7

assessment of students’ knowledge and skills in a “real-life” context

Question 8

central tendency

Answer 8

typical score for a group of scores

Question 9

checklist

Answer 9

assessment tool with which a teacher evaluates student performance by indicating whether specific behaviors or qualities are present or absent

Question 10

conferences

Answer 10

face-to-face interactions with teachers and students or teachers and parents to communicate strengths in student learning or areas that need improvement

Question 11

content validity

Answer 11

extent to which an assessment includes a representative sample of tasks within the domain being assessed

Question 12

criterion-referenced score

Answer 12

assessment score that specifically indicates what a student knows or can do

Question 13

diagnostic assessment

Answer 13

highly specialized, comprehensive and detailed procedures used to uncover persistent or recurring learning difficulties that require specially prepared diagnostic tests as well as various observational techniques

Question 14

dynamic assessment

Answer 14

systematic examination of how easily a student can acquire new knowledge or skills, perhaps with an adult’s assistance

Question 15

essay tests

Answer 15

an assessment format that requires students to make extended written responses to questions or problems

Question 16

ETS score

Answer 16

Standard score with a mean of 500 and a standard deviation of 100

Question 17

formal assessment

Answer 17

pre-planned systematic attempt to ascertain what students have learned

Question 18

formative evaluation

Answer 18

evaluation conducted before or during instruction to facilitate instructional planning and enhance students’ learning

Question 19

grade-equivalent score

Answer 19

test score indicating the grade level of students to whom a test taker performed most similarily

Question 20

high-stakes testing

Answer 20

practice of using students’ performance on a single assessment instrument to make major decisions about students or school personnel

Question 21

holistic scoring

Answer 21

summarizing a student’s performance on an assessment with a single score

Question 22

informal assessment

Answer 22

assessment that results from a teacher’s spontaneous, day-to-day observations of how students behave and perform in class

Question 23

Mean (M)

Answer 23

Mathematical average of a set of scores

Question 24

Median

Answer 24

middle score in a group of scores

Question 25

Mode

Answer 25

most frequently occurring score

Question 26

normal distribution (normal curve)

Answer 26

theoretical pattern of educational and psychological characteristics in which most individuals lie somewhere in the middle range and only a few lie at either extreme

Question 27

norm-referenced score

Answer 27

assessment score that indicates how a student’s performance on an assessment compares with the average performance of others

Question 28

objective testing

Answer 28

multiple choice, matching, true/false, short answer, and fill-in tests; scoring answers does not require interpretation

Question 29

paper-pencil assessment

Answer 29

assessment in which students provide written responses to written items

Question 30

percentile ranking

Answer 30

test score indicating the percentage of people in the norm group getting a raw score less than or equal to a particular student’s raw score

Question 31

performance assessment

Answer 31

assessment in which students demonstrate their knowledge and skills in a non-written fashion

Question 32

portfolio

Answer 32

collection of a student’s work systematically compiled over a lengthy time period

Question 33

practicality

Answer 33

extent to which an assessment instrument or procedure is inexpensive and easy to use and takes only a small amount of time to administer and score

Question 34

rating scale

Answer 34

assessment tool with which a teacher evaluates student performance by rating aspects of the performance on one or more continua

Question 35

raw score

Answer 35

assessment score based solely on the number or point value of correctly answered items

Question 36

reflections

Answer 36

students’ own evaluations and descriptions of their work and their feelings about their achievements

Question 37

reliability

Answer 37

extent to which an assessment instrument yields consistent information about the knowledge, skills, or characteristics being assessed

Question 38

rubric

Answer 38

list of components that a student’s performance on an assessment task should ideally include

Question 39

running record

Answer 39

narrative records of a child’s activities during a single period of time

Question 40

standard deviation (SD)

Answer 40

statistic that reflects how close together or far apart a set of scores is and thereby indicates the variability of the scores

Question 41

standard score

Answer 41

test score indicating how far a student’s performance is from the mean with respect to standard deviation units

Question 42

standardization

Answer 42

extent to which assessments involve similar content and format and are administered and scored similarly for everyone

Question 43

standardized tests

Answer 43

test developed by test-construction experts and published for use in many different schools and classrooms

Question 44

stanine

Answer 44

standard score with a mean of 5 and a standard deviation of 2; it is always reported as a whole number

Question 45

summative evaluation

Answer 45

evaluation conducted after instruction to assess students’ final achievement

Question 46

validity

Answer 46

extent to which an assessment instrument actually measures what it is intended to measure and allows appropriate inferences about the characteristic or ability in question

Question 47

Variability or variance

Answer 47

degree of difference or deviation from mean

Question 48

z-score

Answer 48

standard score with a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1