Please check, just in case…
Announcements
1. We will work on the Terminology Treasure
Hunt in class in two weeks. I need a few
volunteers to help me bring over materials
to class next week.
2. Don’t delay on starting your standardized
test review/critique. Please contact Brigid
(brigidov@unm.edu) if you or your
partner cannot come in on a Thursday 2-5,
when she is scheduled in the Ed Diag
office.
Quick
questions,
quandaries,
comments or
concerns?
APA Tip of the Day: Quoting on-line
sources
• Include the author – if a person is not listed,
use the name of the organization (e.g.
Council for Exceptional Children)
• Include the year – look carefully – often a
year is listed at the bottom of the page in
small print.
• Include the page number, paragraph number,
or, if neither of these are available, the
section heading for the quoted text.
See APA manual, 2010, pp. 171-172
APA Examples
From APA manual, 2010, p. 172:
1. In their study, Verbunt, Pernot, and Smeets (2008) found
that “the level of perceived disability in patients with
fibromyalgia seemed best explained by their mental health
condition and less by their physical condition” (Discussion
section, para 1).
Note: Discussion is the complete section heading.
2. “Empirical studies have found mixed results on the efficacy
of labels in educating consumers and changing consumption
behavior” (Golan, Kuchler, & Krissof, 2007, “Mandatory
Labeling Has Targeted,” para. 4).
Note: Mandatory Labeling Has Targeted is NOT the
complete section heading, therefore, it has quotation marks.
Topic: Normreferenced vs.
criterion referenced
tests
October 8, 2013
Common Purposes of
Assessment
1. Identification of atypical learning needs
(i.e. disability and/or gifted/talented).
2. Determination of language proficiency.
3. Evaluation of current academic
performance.
4. Accountability.
Prereferral Intervention
This is a GENERAL EDUCATION
process that should not
necessarily lead to student
referral to special education
evaluation.
Special Education Assessment
Processes
• Screening
• Evaluation (initial)
• Re-evaluation
• On-going data collection (i.e.
classroom-based assessment)
Screening
• Quick evaluation(s) in area(s) of
concern.
• May be administered by specialist
or classroom teacher.
• Typically used to rule out need for
further assessment.
Special Education Evaluation
• Team Process
• Parent Consent
• Parent participation
• Non-discriminatory:
 cultural & linguistic bias
 appropriate instruments
 multifaceted assessment
More useful purposes of assessment
• What helps this student learn best? (Needed
supports, scaffolding, cueing & prompting
strategies.)
• Patterns of language use by context.
• Available supports for learning.
• Patterns of progress toward specific learning
goals.
• Interaction of learning environment on learning,
performance, and behavior.
Important!
Effective
assessment means
using the right tool
for the job.
Quick Write:
Why is it important for special
educators to understand the language
of testing if they probably won’t be
administering any diagnostic
assessments?
Effective
assessment means
using the right tool
for the job.
Common Assessment Techniques
• Standardized assessments:
• norm- referenced
• criterion-referenced
• other (neither NR or CR)
• Non-standardized (informal) assessments:
• norm-referenced
• criterion-referenced
• other (neither NR or CR)
Other kinds of assessments:
• Developmental scales
• Dynamic assessments
• Language samples
Additional instruments that
might be used in assessment:
• Family/child history
• Interviews
• Other documents observations
Standardized Tests:
Tests that are “designed by test
specialists and administered,
scored, and interpreted under
standard conditions.”
(Linn & Gronlund, 2000, p. 44)
Standardized vs. informal measures
Quick Question:
•Are classroom-based
assessments usually
standardized?
•Why or why not?
Norm-referenced
versus
criterionreferenced
Norm-referenced Tests
Describe “performance in terms of
the relative position held in some
known group (e.g., typed better than
90 percent of the class members).”
(Linn & Gronlund, 2000, p. 42)
Norm-referenced assessments compare
individual performance against others’
performance.
Quick Question:
• Would norm-referenced
classroom-based
assessments be appropriate
for students identified with
special education needs?
• Why or why not?
Criterion-referenced Assessments
Describe “the specific performance
that was demonstrated.”
(Linn & Gronlund, 2000, p. 42)
They are used to compare individual
performance against a preset standard
(criteria).
Strengths
and
limitations
Strengths
and
limitations
“There is no such thing as a ‘good’
or ‘bad’ test in the abstract,
and… there is no such thing as
the one ‘best’ test, even for a
specific situation.”
(Bachman & Palmer, 1996, p. 6)
Six aspects of test quality:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Reliability
Construct validity
Authenticity
Interactiveness
Impact
Practicality
Individual Activity:
Individually, come up with at least three
sentences using the word “reliable” and
at least three sentences using the word
“valid.”
These sentences do not have to have
anything to do with assessment or
evaluation -- they can be the kinds of
things you would say in ‘real life.’
Definitions
Reliability:
1) “Reliability refers to the results
obtained with an assessment
instrument and not to the
instrument itself.”
2) “An estimate of reliability always
refers to a particular type of
consistency” (i.e. over time, interrater reliability, with different
tasks).
Definitions, cont.
Reliability:
3) “Reliability is a necessary but not
sufficient condition for validity.”
4) “Reliability is primarily statistical.”
(Linn & Gronlund, 2000, pp. 108-109)
Definitions, cont.
Validity:
1.) “Validity refers to the
appropriateness of the
interpretation of the results of an
assessment procedure for a given
group of individuals, not to the
procedure itself.”
2.) “Validity is a matter of degree; it
does not exist on an all-or-none
basis.”
Definitions, cont.
Validity:
3.) “Validity is always specific to
some particular use or
interpretation. No assessment is
valid for all purposes.”
4.) “Validity is viewed as a unitary
concept based on various kinds
of evidence.”
Definitions, cont.
Validity:
5.) “Validity involves an overall
evaluative judgment. It requires
an evaluation of the degree to
which interpretations and use of
assessment results are justified by
supporting evidence and in terms
of the consequences of those
interpretations and uses.”
(Linn & Gronlund, 2000, pp.75-76
)
Definitions, cont.
“Validity is an evaluation of
the adequacy and
appropriateness of the
interpretations and use of
assessment results.”
(Linn & Gronlund, 2000, p. 73)
Cautions related to use of “validity”
"Validity refers to the
appropriateness of the
interpretation of the results of an
assessment procedure for a
given group of individuals, not to
the procedure itself."
"Validity is a matter of degree; it
does not exist on an all-or-none
basis."
Cautions, cont.
"Validity is always specific to
some particular use or
interpretation. No assessment
is valid for all purposes."
"Validity is a unitary concept."
"Validity involves an overall
evaluative judgment."
(Linn & Gronlund, 2000, pp. 75-76)
Main Points:
1) A test must be reliable for the
interpretation to be valid.
2) Reliability, in and of itself, is not
enough -- the interpretation must
also be valid for the individual and
specified purpose of assessment.
3) Validity refers to the interpretation of
the test results, not to the test.
Main Points, cont.:
4) As a special educator, the
most important thing you need
to learn about standardized
tests is how to interpret
assessment results -- are they
valid FOR THIS CHILD AT
THIS TIME?
Please take
some time for
the midsemester
course
evaluation.