Achievement Tests  

Characteristics 
Purposes / Advantages of Achievement Tests 
Purposes / Advantages of Classroom Tests 
Separate Achievement Tests 

Aptitude Tests  

Advantages of Aptitude tests 
Intelligence tests  
Cautions in Interpreting Test Scores 
Individually Administered tests 

Test Selection, Administration, and Use  
 
Procedure for selecting tests 
Administering the test 
During the test administration 
Improving test taking skills 
Purposes for testing 
Should NOT be used as the ONLY criteria for

Interpreting Test Scores and Norms  
 
Methods of Interpreting Test Scores  
Types of Test Scores    
Cautions in Interpreting Any Test Score 
 

ACHIEVEMENT TESTS  
 

Characteristics (why published, standardized, norm-referenced, achievement tests are used) 

1) The test items are of a higher technical quality 
2) Directions of administering and scoring are so precisely stated that the procedures are standardized for different uses of the test  
3) Norms are based on national samples of students  
4) Parallel and comparable forms are usually provided  
5) Test manual and other accessory materials are included 

Purposes / Advantages of Standardized, Norm-referenced Achievement Tests  

1) Evaluating students' general educational development in the basic skills and in those learning outcomes common to many courses of study.  
2) Evaluating student progress during the school year or over a period of years  
3) Determining students' relative strengths and weaknesses in general subject or skill areas.  
4) Comparing students' general level of achievement with their peers. 

Purposes / Advantages of Teacher-constructed Classroom Tests 

1) Evaluating the learning goals and objectives unique to a particular class or school  
2) Evaluating students' day-to-day progress and their achievement on work units of varying sizes  
3) Evaluating knowledge of current developments in rapidly changing content areas such as science and social studies  

NOTE: You need to be clear about the advantages of each type of test. Classroom tests are better for some purposes while published, standardized, norm-referenced tests are better for other purposes.

Separate Standardized, Norm-referenced Achievement Tests

Some districts may choose to give the math tests created by Riverside Publishers (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) and the reading tests created by McGraw-Hill Publishers (Terra Nova). 

Why would a district choose to administer achievement tests from different publishers? 

Advantage: More closely matches district curriculum frameworks and learning outcomes  

Why don't districts choose to administer achievement tests from different publishers? 

Disadvantage: Norming groups will vary; so you could not compare the reading scores to the math scores, because the same norming group did not take both tests (also, it is very expensive) 
 

Customized Achievement Tests  
 

Some districts may send their objectives (ex: Lee County might send their Curriculum Frameworks) to a test publisher and ask that a test be especially designed for their students. 
 

Why would a district want these? 

Advantage: More closely matches district curriculum frameworks and learning outcomes 

Why don't districts choose to have a publisher create a test especially designed for them? 

Disadvantage: NO norming group will exist; comparisons can only be made within the district (also, it is very expensive) 
 

Test publishers also make special norming groups available. So if a school or district wanted norms for low social-economic groups or for high percentage of minority groups, they could get them.

Individually Administered Achievement Tests

These are tests that must be administered one-on-one. They are usually reserved for students who do not perform well on group administered tests (i.e., ESE and ESOL students or students referred for these programs). 
 
Advantages: (1) More carefully controlled administration conditions, and (2) Less dependent on student's reading and writing ability

• Measure learned abilities -- provide an indication of the current level of performance 
• Used to predict future performance and they are broader in scope than achievement tests 
• Less dependent on a specific set of learning experiences than achievement tests 

Advantages of Aptitude tests 

1) take less time to administer  
2) can be used with students of varying backgrounds  
3) can be used when students have had no training in that area 
 

Intelligence tests (usually have a . . .)  

1) mean of 100 
2) standard deviation of 10, 15, or 16  
3) standard error of between 3 and 7 

Intelligence tests are also called aptitude tests; because they work well in predicting future success in school, and because they do not measure all areas known to reflect intelligence (creativity, social intelligence, etc.) 

Binet was the first person known to have been commissioned by his country (France) to create a test that would identify children who would benefit from traditional schooling. He called this test an intelligence test, and it worked very well for identifying those children who would benefit from traditional schooling. Those who scored high on his test were label intelligent and sent to regular school. Those who scored low on his test were labeled mentally retarded and sent somewhere else. This is still the main purpose of intelligence tests. They were and are not currently designed to measure intelligence as we define it in modern society. They were and still are designed to predict future success in traditional school settings, and overall, do this job very well. 
 

Cautions in Interpreting Test Scores [IMPORTANT!!!] 
 
1) allow for natural variation in test scores (within a standard error) 
2) seek the causes of low scores  
3) verify test results by comparison with other information  
4) use the test results to improve learning / teaching 
5) be cautious in identifying students as under (or over) achievers --- these terms are used much too frequently 
6) use of single score (overall score for school success) versus Separate scores for verbal, non-verbal, etc. 

• Single is good for general prediction of success in school 
• Separate scores are good for helping students with diagnosing strengths and weaknesses and academic planning 
 

Individually Administered Tests 
 
• De-emphasize reading / writing ability 
• Provide more carefully controlled administration conditions

 
 
Culture Fair Aptitude and Achievement Tests

Culture Fair Tests have not lived up to expectations, but have helped initiate conversations about the complexity of problems involved in assessing students who are not from the dominant culture. There has been a realization that there are many more cultures than there are languages or countries of origin and variability exists within cultures. One test made "fair" for one culture may not be "fair" for another culture. One test can not be made "fair" for ALL cultures nor can enough tests be created for every culture. We need to acknowledge that these students need multiple assessments conducted in a variety of ways in order to assess their aptitude (ability to learn / succeed). We also need to be clear that we are more often than not trying to predict how well a student will perform in a traditional classroom situation and that this may or may not be accurate for predicting what or how much or how well they can learn. 

 

TEST SELECTION, ADMINISTRATION, AND USE  
 
Teachers are rarely involved in test selection. However, committees are occasionally formed to look at the validity of published, standardized, norm-referenced achievement tests and to determine if a different test would be more valid than the one currently used by the district. These committees are made up of administrators, test experts, and teachers. So, it is important that you are aware of the procedures used. 
 

Best Sources for information about tests 

1) Buros Institute for Mental Measurements = Mental Measurements Yearbooks;  
2) Tests in Print Test Corporation of America = Tests and Test Critiques  

Procedure for selecting tests 

1) defining the specific type of testing information needed (what is the purpose for this test)  
2) appraising the role of published tests in relation to other measurement procedures and to the constraints of the school situation  
3) locating suitable tests  
4) obtaining sample items of the tests  
5) reviewing test materials in reference to their intended use 
a) recommended use of the test  
b) qualifications needed to administer and interpret the test  
c) evidence of validity for each recommended use  
d) evidence of reliability for recommended uses and an indication of equivalence for any equivalent forms provided  
e) directions for administering and scoring the test  
f) adequate norms or other bases for interpreting the scores  
  

6) evaluate the information and making a selection; may want to use evaluation form 

 

Administering the test  
 

1) Organize and review the materials well in advance  
2) select a suitable place to administer the test  
3) make provisions to prevent distractions  
4) practice giving the test  
5) motivate the students 
  

During the test administration 

1) closely follow the directions and time limits  
2) encourage the students to do their best  
3) keep a record of any event during the administration that might impact test scores  
4) Collect test materials promptly 
 

Following #'s 1-4 is what makes a test standardized. It is important that all students taking the test are experiencing the same conditions. If conditions vary, it will effect the reliability of the test scores and the validity of the inferences made. 

Improving test taking skills 
 

1) teach your objectives as well as you can  
2) teach test-taking strategies 
  

Purposes for testing 
 

1) Instructional planning  
a) identifying the level and range of ability among students  
b) identifying areas of instruction needing greater emphasis  
c) identifying discrepancies between learning ability and achievement  
d) diagnosing learning errors and planning remedial instruction  
e) clarifying and selecting instructional objectives 
  

2) Individualizing instruction  
3) Identifying needs of exceptional children  
4) Monitoring educational progress over extended periods  
5) Reporting to parents and administrators; providing them with an independent source of information  
6) Helping students making educational and vocational decisions  
7) Appraising and reporting on the effectiveness of the school program 

  

Should NOT be used as the ONLY criteria for 
 

1) Assigning grades 
2) Assignment to remedial programs  
3) Retention or Promotion  
4) Evaluating teacher effectiveness = leads to teaching to the test 
 

These are stated in the manuals for published, standardized, norm-referenced achievement tests. 

INTERPRETING TEST SCORES AND NORMS  

Measures from achievement, aptitude, attitude, psychological scores do not have a true-zero point. This means that even when a person can not answer any of the items or questions correctly, we do not interpret that to mean the person has no knowledge of math or no intelligence or no anxiety. The range of possible scores on any of these tests start above zero. No person can earn a score of zero on any of these tests. 

Test scorescan not be compared unless the norming group is taken into consideration and the scale on which the score is based.  

Methods of Interpreting Test Scores  

1. Criterion-Referenced Interpretation based on set of specific skills  
 
ASK  
 
Are the achievement domains clearly defined?  
Are there enough items for each skill tested? (minimum 3 per objective) 
What is the difficulty level of the items? (should be average = .5) 
What type(s) of items are used?  
What is the match of items to objectives?  
 
2. Norm-Referenced Interpretation based on comparison of the individual to clearly defined group 
 

ASK  
 

Are the test norms relevant?  
Are the test norms representative? (look at demographics) 
Are the test norms up to date? (updated every 5 years or less) 
Are the test norms comparable?  
Are the test norms adequately described?
 
Types of Test Scores 

Raw scores -- the number of items correct or the number of points earned; not of much use by themselves 

Grade Equivalent scores -- grade group in which student's raw score is average; used to estimate or monitor growth  

Standard Scores -- distance of student's raw score from the mean (average) in terms of standard deviations; used to monitor growth  

Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE) -- have a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 21.06; used to describe group performance and to show growth over time  

Percentile Rank -- student's relative position in a group in terms of the percentage of students scoring lower; used to determine relative areas of strengths and weaknesses  

Stanines -- normal distribution is divided into nine parts; used to identify relative areas of strengths and weaknesses 

 

Cautions in Interpreting Any Test Score 
 

1. A test score should be interpreted in terms of the specific test from which it was derived.  
2. A test score should be interpreted in light of all of the student's relevant characteristics.  
3. A test score should be interpreted according to the type of decision(s) to be made.  
4. A test score should be interpreted as a band of scores rather than as a specific score.  
5. A test score should be verified by supplementary evidence.  
6. Do NOT interpret a grade equivalent score as an estimate of the grade where a student should be placed.  
7. Do NOT assume that the units are equal at different parts of the scale.  
8. Do NOT assume that scores on different tests are comparable.  
9. Do NOT interpret extreme scores as dependable estimates of a student's performance. 
 

   Go to activities for Module 6.