Testing & Measurements Vocab

Question 1

validity

Answer 1

refers to how accurately a method measures what it is intended to measure

Question 2

formative assessments

Answer 2

monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning

Question 3

interim assessments

Answer 3

determine student achievement on standards

Question 4

IDEA

Answer 4

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Question 5

NCLB

Answer 5

No Child Left Behind

Question 6

standards-based reform

Answer 6

arose in response to the release of “A Nation At Risk” in 1983 & evolved into two general themes or strands: academic standards and performance standards

Question 7

RTI

Answer 7

Response to Intervention- tiered system designed to integrate assessment, research-based instruction, and data-based decision making to improve educational outcomes in all classes

Question 8

positively skewed distributions

Answer 8

results from an asymmetrical distribution of scores

Question 9

negatively skewed distributions

Answer 9

results from an asymmetrical distribution of scores, but majority of scores fall above the middle of the score distribution

Question 10

performance tests

Answer 10

tests that use direct measures of learning rather than indirect measures that simply suggest cognitive, affective, or psychomotor processes that have taken place

Question 11

holistic scoring

Answer 11

used when the rater is more interested in estimating the overall quality of the performance and assigning a numerical value to that quality than assigning points for the addition or omission of a specific aspect of performance

Question 12

rating scales

Answer 12

used for those aspects of a complex performance that do not lend themselves to yes/no or present/absent type judgments

Question 13

measures of central tendency

Answer 13

mean, median, mode

Question 14

standard deviation

Answer 14

includes all the scores in a distribution in its computation; normally reported as the estimate of variability that accompanies the mean in describing a distribution

Question 15

validity

Answer 15

does the test measure what it is supposed to?

Question 16

reliability

Answer 16

refers to the consistency with which it yields the same rank for individuals who take the test more than once

Question 17

Kuder-Richardson Method

Answer 17

measure the extent to which items within one form of the test have as much in common with one another as do the items in that one form with corresponding items in an equivalent form

Question 18

standard error of measurement

Answer 18

the standard deviation of the error scores of a test

Question 19

test-retest

Answer 19

coefficients are determined over a short period of time and few changes are likely to take place within students to alter their test scores

Question 20

alternate forms

Answer 20

determined by administering two different forms or versions of the same test to the same group close together in time