Please check, just in case…
Announcements
1. Standardized Test Description due in
two weeks.
2. Questions about upcoming
assignments? Make an appointment.
Quick
questions or
quandaries?
APA Tip of the Day: e.g. vs. i.e.
• e.g. means “for example”
• i.e. means “that is”
• cf. means “compare”
• …, etc. means “and so forth”
• vs. means “versus, against”
• viz. means “namely”
(information from APA, 2010, p. 108)
Topic: Interpreting
Standardized Test
Results
October 28, 2015
IDEA Requirements for Evaluation:
“Tests are selected and administered so as
best to ensure that if a test is
administered to a child with impaired
sensory, manual, or speaking skills, the
test results accurately reflect the child’s
aptitude or achievement level or whatever
other factors the test purports to measure,
rather than reflecting the child’s impaired
sensory, manual, or speaking skills
(unless those skills are the factors that
the test purports to measure).”
“For all test takers, any
tests that employs
language is, in part, a
measure of their
language skills.”
(AERA, APA, NCME, 1999, p. 91)
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.
Questions to ask:
• Who was included in the normative
sample?
• Was the normative sample
adequately described?
• Was the normative sample similar to
the students who are being tested
with the instrument?
More questions to ask:
• Were students from minority
backgrounds included in similar
proportions to our local
population?
• What about bilingual students?
Were they included? If so, were
they adequately described?
Even more questions to ask:
• What about dialect? Would use of a
non-standard dialect influence test
responses? If so, was that taken into
consideration in the normative
sample?
• What about socio-economic status?
Were students from a range of SES
backgrounds included? How was SES
determined? Was that adequately
explained?
HINT!
Quick small group activity
• Read at the quotes on the next 4 slides
individually and make notes on:
• What you understand.
• What you don’t understand.
• With 1 or 2 other colleagues, share
your understandings and questions.
• Decide on 1 major question to pose to
the group as a whole.
“If normative data do not exist for
the population for which a test is
being administered, it is the
responsibility of the examiner to
validate the test for that specific
population. If the examiner fails
to do so, the results of the test
will be considered invalid.”
(Leary & Boscardian, 1992, p. 53)
“Tests should not be
administered to individuals
who are known to have
specific handicapping
conditions if that test has not
been appropriately normed on
their specific population.”
(Leary & Boscardian, 1992, p. 54)
When testing students who have been
exposed to more than one language
“norms developed for monolingual
English-speaking populations should
either not be used or should be
interpreted with the understanding that
English language proficiency is a
contaminating factor.”
(President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for
Hispanic Americans, 2000, p. 11)
"When a bilingual individual confronts a
monolingual test, developed by
monolingual individuals, and
standardized and normed on a
monolingual population, both the test
taker and the test are asked to do
something they cannot do. The
bilingual test taker cannot perform like
a monolingual. The monolingual test
cannot ‘measure’ in the other
language."
(Valdés & Figueroa, 1994, p. 87)
Really?
“Test developers should collect
for each linguistic subgroup
studied the same form of validity
evidence collected for the
examinee population as a
whole.”
(AERA, APA, NCME, 1999, p. 97)
So why don’t we translate each
test? We might be able to later
develop norms for the
translated version.
“A translated test is an
inappropriate test. The
practice should be
proscribed.”
(President’s Advisory Commission on Educational
Excellence for Hispanic Americans, 2000, p. 11)
“Translating a test assumes
that the items in one
language arrange
themselves in the same
order of difficulty as in
another language.”
(Valdés & Figueroa, 1994, p. 105)
“The use of interpreters should be
discouraged, if not proscribed.
Interpreters are basically poor
substitutes for what should be
provided... culturally knowledgeable,
linguistically competent testers... in
special education, the use of
interpreters may lead to invalid
inferences and conclusions.... This is
a practice that may really be
malpractice.”
(President’s Advisory Commission on Educational
Excellence for Hispanic Americans, 2000, p. 47)
Quick Write:
So what are some emerging ideas
you now have on using
standardized, norm-referenced
tests with diverse populations?
“Tests should not be
administered to individuals
who are known to have
specific handicapping
conditions if that test has not
been appropriately normed on
their specific population.”
(Leary & Boscardian, 1992, p. 54)
Questions to ask:
• Who was included in the normative
sample?
• Was the normative sample
adequately described?
• Was the normative sample similar to
the students who are being tested
with the instrument?
More questions to ask:
• Were students with disabilities
included in the normative sample?
• If so:
 What disabilities?
 How were they identified?
 What about students who require
alternative response formats?
Even more questions to ask:
• Are any accommodations for student
disability (i.e. sensory impairments)
allowed on the assessment?
• If so, what changes in administration
would be considered accommodations
and what would be considered a
modification?
Accommodations
vs.
Modifications
Accommodations do NOT change
fundamental aspects of the test.
Ex. Extra time, breaks, limiting the
number of questions visible at
one time, bubbling answers in
for students.
Modifications DO change
fundamental aspects of the test and
are therefore, not allowed.
Ex. Reading a passage for students on a
reading comprehension test, or,
using a calculator on a basic math
skills test.
CAUTION!
What is considered an
“accommodation” versus a
“modification” differs by EACH test.
Unless specified as an allowable
accommodation, ANY change in
administration procedures from those
specified in the manual will invalidate
the use of normative comparisons.
“If normative data do not exist for
the population for which a test is
being administered, it is the
responsibility of the examiner to
validate the test for that specific
population. If the examiner fails
to do so, the results of the test
will be considered invalid.”
(Leary & Boscardian, 1992, p. 53)
Buyer Beware!
Don’t buy a
used car
without looking
under the
hood!
Main Points
1. It is extremely difficult, if not
impossible, to develop adequate
norms for diverse populations, such
as individuals with multiple
disabilities or culturally and
linguistically diverse populations.
Main Points
2. Given the purpose of normreferenced tests (in contrast to
criterion-referenced tests) their
usefulness with individuals who
differ significantly from the
normative group is highly
questionable.
Main Points
3. The test results for
these individuals must
be interpreted with
great caution.
Small Group Activity:
Formulate a list of SPECIFIC
suggestions within your group as to
how the information from tonight's
class could be used in the test
description assignment.
Please take a
minute for the
minute paper.
And don’t forget to turn
your phone back on.