Psychological - Lecture 9 Educational Testing (Catherine)

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)

*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

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)

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

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

Survey Battery Tests / Achievement Batteries

* Measures of Achievement in Specific Subject Areas

*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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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