Lecture 9 Educational Testing (Catherine)

Question 1

What is the objective of a test?

Answer 1

is to provide some indication of an individuals behaviour
-is this child ready for school?
-How well will this high school student do at university?
-Does this child have an educational difficulty?
(Assumption 3: Test related behaviour predicts non-test related behaviour)

Question 2

Name the 3 types of educational tests used in educational settings, and what type of test are these?

Answer 2

*Achievement tests
evaluates what a person has learned as a result of exposure to a relatively defined learning experience

*Diagnostic Tests
Similar to achievement tests, but used for diagnostic purposes

• Aptitude Tests
• Measures what a person has learned informally
• Provides information about potential ability

*All 3 are ability tests

Question 3

What are the main components of an achievement test?

Answer 3

• Achievement tests measure the degree of learning that has taken place as a result of exposure to a relatively defined learning experience
• e.g. a specific program of instruction/training (PSY3041)

Question 4

What are the 2 varieties of achievement test?

Answer 4

• Those that are fact based and require rote-learning

* Those that require both knowledge of the facts & sufficient understanding to be able to apply these facts

Question 5

What are 3 uses for an achievement test?

Answer 5

• Making decisions about a student
• placement in a particular class/stream
• acceptance into a programme
• advancement to a higher level
• Gauging the quality of instruction in a particular class, school, district or state
• How well are the teachers teaching?
• Screening for learning difficulties
• in such circumstances, measures of general achievement may precede the administration of more specific diagnostic tests designed to identify areas for remediation

Question 6

What are the 2 main measures of General Achievement?

Answer 6

• Survey Battery Tests / Achievement Batteries

* Measures of Achievement in Specific Subject Areas

Question 7

What are the key aspects involved in delivering a Survey Battery Tests / Achievement Batteries & what are some well known tests?

Answer 7

*Usually given in school settings to measure progress in broad content area (e.g. vocab, maths, reading)
*Can be individual or group administered
*Constructed to provide norm-referenced (performance relative to students in same group) & criterion-referenced (absolute standard) analysis of respondent performance
*e.g.s
Wide-Range Achievement Test
SRA California Achievement Test
Wechsler Achievement Test

Question 8

What are the key aspects involved in delivering Measures of Achievement in Specific Subject Areas & what are some of the advantages & disadvantages?

Answer 8

• These are often teacher-made tests
  e. g. a quiz or a final examination in a course (PSY3041)

*Advantages of teacher-made tests:
tailored to a specific program of instruction or training

• Disadvantages of teacher-made tests:
• often not standardised
• may lack objectivity, content validity etc

Question 9

What are the key aspects involved in delivering Diagnostic Tests?

Answer 9

• A distinction is made between tests used primarily for evaluative purposes (achievement tests) & tests used primarily for diagnostic purposes (diagnostic tests)
• Diagnostic Tests are used to diagnose learning disabilities
• but do not necessarily provide information that will answer questions about WHY a LD exists
• The line between evaluative and Diagnostic Tests is fuzzy - evaluative tests can provide insights into diagnostic areas & vice versa

Question 10

What are examples of Diagnostic Tests of Reading?

Answer 10

Sub-tests: letter identification, word identification, etc

• Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test
• Metropolitan Reading Instructional Tests
• Diagnostic Reading Instructional Tests
• Durrell Analysis of Reading Test
• Woodcock Reading Mastery Test

Question 11

What are examples of Diagnostic Mathematics Tests?

Answer 11

Sub-tests: basic concepts, operations, etc.

• Stanford Diagnostic Mathematics Test
• Metropolitan Mathematics Instructional Tests
• Diagnostic Mathematical Inventory
• KeyMath Revised: A Diagnostic inventory of essential mathematics

Question 12

What are some key components of Aptitude Tests?

Answer 12

• They focus on informal (rather than formal) learning
• Aptitude tests measure the potential for learning based on an individual’s life experience
• as opposed to an achievement test which measures learning related to a specific program of instruction
• Aptitude tests are also called prognostic tests, used for prediction
  e. g. to measure school readiness or ability to complete postgraduate studies

Question 13

What are the key differences between Achievement and Aptitude tests?

Answer 13

The successful completion of a question on an achievement test requires familiarity with specific knowledge e.g. the concept of correlation, & the knowledge that the variance is accounted for by a correlation coefficient

The successful completion of a question on an aptitude test requires familiarity with more general knowledge e.g. such as concept of size and analogies

Question 14

What are some examples of Aptitude Tests?

Answer 14

• Intellectual & cognitive functioning
• Tests that measure a broad range of cognitive functioning in the following domains, general mental ability (IQ), mental retardation, giftedness
• Special Aptitude
• Tests that measure one aspect of ability
• Often used in determining the likelihood of success in a vocation (e.g. mechanical aptitude test)
• Multiple aptitude tests
• Tests that measure many aspects of ability

Question 15

What are Psycho-educational Test Batteries?

Answer 15

• Tests that combine aspects of achievement & aptitude tests
• abilities related to academic success
• educational achievement (e.g. reading, writing, arithmetic)
• Two uses of test data
• Normative comparisons (i.e. performance related to age-matched peers)
• Evaluation of the test-taker’s strengths & weaknesses

Question 16

What are examples of the 5 main

Psycho-educational Test Batteries?

Answer 16

• The Iowa Test Series
• kindergarten to year / grade 9
• vocab, reading, language, work study, maths
• The Otis-Lennon School Ability Test
• kindergarten to year / grade 12
• verbal comprehension, verbal reasoning, pictorial reasoning, quantitative reasoning
• The Stanford Achievement Test
• kindergarten to year / grade 12
• vocab, spelling, reading comprehension, word study & skills, language, science
• The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, 2nd Edition (KABC-II)
• Ages 2.5 yrs through to age 12.5 (K-ABC)
• Ages 3 to 18 years (KABC-II)
• The Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ III)
• Ages 2 to 90+ years

Question 17

Give details about the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, 2nd Edition (KABC-II)?

Answer 17

The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, 2nd Edition (KABC-II)

• Ages 2.5 yrs through to age 12.5 (K-ABC)
• Ages 3 to 18 years (KABC-II)
• The K-ABC intelligence sub-tests are divided into 2 groups reflecting simultaneous skills and sequential or successive skills
• i.e. reflecting Luria’s information-processing view that focuses on HOW information is processed, rather than on WHAT is processed
• The Revised KABC-II expands the theoretical basis to include sequential versus simultaneous processing theory and CHC (Catteel-Horn-Carroll) Theory
• A number of researchers have expressed concerns with the test’s dual theory basis which is seen as trying to have it both ways

Question 18

What are some of the other tools of assessment?

Answer 18

• There are tools of Performance, Portfolio & Authentic Assessment
• These assessments marshal a variety of knowledge, skills, and values that the examinee must exhibit
• Performance Assessment
• domain specific (e.g. portfolio assessment)
• The evaluation of work samples conducted according to experts from the domain of study tapped by those tasks
• Authentic Assessment
• involves the assessment of ‘relevant, meaningful tasks’ that demonstrate the transfer of an area of study to ‘real world’ activities
• e.g. the assessment of writing skills based on a person’s writing samples rather than responses on multiple choice items

Question 19

Peer Appraisal is another type of assessment tool, what can you tell me about this technique?

Answer 19

• Involves asking an individual’s peer group to make the evaluation
• e.g. used in commercial organisations (360” appraisal
• These techniques are useful as they can:
• direct attention to academic, personal, social difficulties
• can provide insights into dynamics & the structure of social networks (modelling using socio-grams)
• However,
• they are not particularly useful if group members have not had much experience working together
• Assessment changes as a function of the assessment situation and group membership