Chapter 13: Special Considerations
with Assessments
High Stakes Assessment:
A test that
samples the
curricular aim
Skills and/or
knowledge in the
curricular aim
Professional Ethics
 How do professional ethics connect
to test preparation?
 Are there some examples from your
own experience that were ethical?
Unethical? Why?
Guidelines:
 1) Avoid test-preparation practices that
involve violation of state-imposed
security procedures regarding highstakes tests.
 This is dishonest and can result in loss of
teaching credentials.
 No ‘teaching to the
test’.
 What does this mean?
Educational Defensibility
 No test-preparation practice should
increase students’ test scores without
simultaneously increasing students’
mastery of the curricular aim tested.
 Examples?
Test-Preparation Practices:
 1) Generalized test-taking preparation:
Provides special instruction covering test-taking
skills for dealing with a variety of achievementtest formats. For example the teacher shows
students how to make calculated guesses for
certain types of items or how to allocate testtaking time judiciously.
Test-Preparation Practices:
 2. Varied-Format Preparation: Students
during their regular classroom instruction are
given practice not only with the content as it is
conceptualized on the test but also with content
conceptualized in other ways. Rises in test scores
will in general be accompanied by rises in
mastery of the curricular aim being tested
because students’ generalized mastery of the
content is being fostered.
Why not these?
 Previous-form preparation: Students are
given opportunities to practice using previousforms of the test they will be taking.
 (Note: Some tests may provide test-preparation
materials that give students some practice in
following testing format).
Why not these?
 Current-form preparation:
Giving students practice on the exact format and
questions on the high-stakes test.
 Same-format preparation: Although it may
be considered ethical, it is not educationally
defensible. If students in their regular classroom
instructed are allowed to deal only with the
explicit items format used on a test, students will
be far less likely to generalize what they have
learned.
Quality Teaching
 Instruction should be directed toward the body
of knowledge and/or skills represented by
the test, but not toward the specific set of items
in the test.
 You can only direct your instruction toward the
knowledge and/or skills represented by a highstakes test if there is a suitable description of
the assessed curricular aim available.
Applying This Knowledge:
 What assessment practices, skills, and
strategies covered in this class will be useful
to you as a classroom teacher who teaches
curriculum skillfully while preparing
students to succeed on high-stakes testing?
Changing Trends in High-Stakes
Testing:
 More high level thinking, critical problem-solving





skills.
Examples from Praxis?
More writing and open-ended questions.
How can you prepare students for this type of
testing?
Old View: Exact answers. Rote learning.
New View: Application of principles. Making Connections.