ch 15

Percentile ranks range from:

1 to 99.

_____ reliability is determined by giving different forms of the same test on two different occasions to the same group of students and observing how consistent the scores are.

Alternate-forms

Identify the types of criterion validity in a standardized test. (More than one option may be correct.)

Concurrent validity Predictive validity

_____ validity is the broadest type of validity.

Construct

Identify a true statement about state-mandated assessments in the 1990s.

Efforts were initiated to connect these tests to state-endorsed instructional objectives.

True or false: Currently, there is one national test that is required for teacher candidates by the National Academy of Education.

False

True or false: The American Psychological Association, the American Educational Research Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education have approved the use of high-stakes testing as the sole source of information for making major decisions about student promotion and placement.

False

True or false: The scores from standardized tests are enough to provide ample information required for planning and improving instruction.

False

Identify a possible advantage of high-stakes testing.

High expectations for all students

Which of the following statements is true about the basis of rating performance in criterion-referenced tests?

In criterion-referenced tests, performance is based on established standards.

In the context of diagnosing the strengths and weaknesses of students using standardized tests, which of the following is most likely to pinpoint students' learning weaknesses?

Individually administered tests

Identify a criticism of the No Child Left Behind Act.

It does not measure such important skills as creativity and motivation.

Identify the traditional definition of validity.

It is the extent to which a test measures what it is intended to measure.

Identify the areas that are assessed by the tests used by states for licensing of teacher candidates. (More than one option may be correct.)

Pedagogical knowledge General academic ability Subject-matter knowledge

_____ reliability involves dividing the test items into two parts, such as the odd-numbered and even-numbered items.

Split-half

_____ assess skills that students are expected to have mastered before they can be promoted to the next grade or permitted to graduate.

Standards-based tests

Identify a requirement of No Child Left Behind legislation.

States and districts are required to provide report cards that show a school's performance level.

_____ reliability is the extent to which a test yields the same performance when a student is given the same test on two occasions.

Test-retest

The principal of a school wants to compare the performance of students from two different grades in the same school. Which of the following is most likely to help the principal achieve this task?

The principal should administer a nationally standardized test to students from both grades.

Identify true statements about portfolio assessments. (More than one option may be correct.)

They emphasize real-world problem solving. They focus instruction on higher-level thinking skills.

Which of the following is true of portfolio assessments?

They reduce some of the inequity that characterizes standardized tests for ethnic minority students.

What is the widest use of high-stakes testing?

To make decisions regarding remediation

True or false: A test score that is valid is reliable, but a test score that is reliable is not necessarily valid.

True

_____ involves the extent to which a test measures what it is intended to measure and whether inferences about the test scores are accurate and appropriate.

Validity

Which of the following represents a normal distribution?

a bell curve

A(n) ______ test is a test that measures what a student has learned or what skills the student has mastered.

achievement

Identify an external factor that influences reliability.

ambiguous questions

A histogram is often called a:

bar graph.

A measure of ______ is a number that provides information about the average, or typical, score in a set of data.

central tendency

Which of the following procedures of administering standardized tests most likely helps determine the strengths and weaknesses of students?

comparing the different subscale scores of students

A test's ability to sample a content that is to be measured is known as _____ _____

content validity

A test's ability to predict a student's performance as measured by other assessments or benchmarks is known as _____ _____

criterion validity

For understanding and interpreting standardized tests, teachers use ______, which deals with mathematical procedures used to describe and summarize data (information) in a meaningful way.

descriptive statistics

The purpose of ______ tests is to determine the specific learning needs of a student so that those needs can be met through regular or remedial instruction.

diagnostic

Alternate-forms reliability eliminates the likelihood that students will perform better on the second test administration due to the increase in:

familiarity with the items on the test.

A ______ score indicates a student's performance in relation to grade level and months of the school year, assuming a 10-month school year, to the norm group.

grade-equivalent

A clock that consistently runs ten minutes ahead has:

high reliability but poor validity.

A _____ has important consequences for a student, affecting decisions such as whether the student will be promoted to the next grade or be allowed to graduate.

high-stakes test

Stephen has been preparing for a test that will determine if he graduates. Which of the following types of tests is he most likely to take?

high-stakes test

James' performance in a test is rated on the basis of the performance of a national sample of students who are of the same age, but belong to different geographic regions, ethnicities, and socioeconomic status. Which of the following types of test did James take?

norm-referenced test

In _____, a student's score is interpreted by comparing it with how others performed.

norm-referenced tests

In a ______, most of the scores cluster around the mean.

normal distribution

Andrew, a student in the first grade, takes a norm-referenced test in math. Andrew's performance in the test will be rated based on the:

performance of a national sample of first-grade students.

Identify an internal factor that influences reliability.

poor motivation

Prior to instruction, standardized test results may:

provide an indication of the general ability of the students in the class.

Standardized achievement tests that focus on specific areas usually assess _____

skills in a more detailed way than survey batteries

To be called reliable, scores must be relatively free from errors of measurement and be:

stable and dependable.

Some test reports include percentile bands, a range of scores expressed in percentiles. This is referred to as the ______.

standard error of measurement

A(n) _____ _____ is expressed as a deviation from the mean, which involves the concept of standard deviation.

standard score

In order to interpret the results of standardized tests, teachers will require some knowledge of:

statistics

The principal of a school administers standardized tests to the students on a regular basis. Which of the following information is most likely to be provided by these tests?

student achievement across months or years

Test-retest reliability can produce falsely inconsistent results when:

students do better on a test due to increased familiarity.

Identify a criticism of high-stakes testing.

teaching to the test

A percentile-rank score provides information about:

the score's position in relation to the rest of the scores.

The No Child Left Behind Act requires ______ to create their own standards for students' achievement in mathematics, English/language arts, and science.

the states

Which of the following is a guideline that teachers should follow to prepare students to take standardized tests?

using challenging tasks that require critical thinking

What is the effect of state standards-based tests on the school curriculum?

It narrows the curriculum to only what is covered on the test.

Identify a true statement about high-stakes testing.

Most current high-stakes tests provide very limited information about why students do not perform well.

______ is the U.S. government's effort to hold schools and school districts accountable for the success or failure of their students.

No Child Left Behind

Which of the following is a criticism of the current PRAXISTM and state licensure tests for teacher candidates?

the tests lack consistency across states.

A true statement about state-mandated assessments, prior to the 1990s, is that ______.

they provided an overall view of students' performance in certain subject areas

Identify a guideline that teachers should follow to prepare students to take standardized tests.

The teacher should not teach to the test.

Identify a recommendation made by the National Academy of Education about the need for a national test for teacher candidates.

The test results should be incorporated into state licensing requirements.

Identify the opinion of the American Psychological Association, the American Educational Research Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education about the test scores obtained from high-stakes state standards-based testing.

They are limited and unstable.

Identify a true statement about raw scores.

They are not very useful on their own.

Identify a criticism of the current PRAXISTM and state licensure tests for teacher candidates.

They mainly test marginally relevant knowledge and skills.

In the context of the types of standard scores, a(n) _____ - _____ provides information about how many standard deviations a raw score is above or below the mean.

Z score

State standardized tests are typically:

criterion-referenced tests.

According to the accountability system that states are required to create for schools as stipulated in the No Child Left Behind Act, schools that fail to make ______ for two consecutive years are labeled "underperforming."

adequate yearly progress

A(n) _____ test is designed to predict a student's ability to learn a skill or accomplish something with further education and training.

aptitude

Some experts and proponents of performance assessments argue that, unlike standardized tests, performance assessments:

are more meaningful to be made part of students' total assessments.

Schools that use standards-based tests often require students who do not pass the test to:

attend special programs.

Identify the type of scoring used by state standards-based tests.

criterion-referenced scores

Standardized tests administered after instruction can be used to:

evaluate the effectiveness of instruction and the curriculum.

True or false: The concept of concurrent validity is related to content-related evidence.

false

A(n) _____ is a frequency distribution in the form of a graph.

histogram

Critics of the No Child Left Behind Act argue that it will lead to ______.

increased expenditure on testing

A survey battery is a group of:

individual subject-matter tests designed for a particular level of students.

Which of the following types of standardized tests is given to help teachers determine the areas of achievement that need further instruction?

interim assessment

When split-half reliability is high, the test is:

internally consistent.

Identify the areas in which standardized tests are often used for diagnosis.

math reading

Construct validity is the extent to which there is evidence that a test _____

measures a particular unobservable trait of a person

The ______ is the score that occurs most often

mode

State standards-based tests contain mostly:

multiple-choice items.

The group of individuals previously tested that provides a basis for interpreting a test score is called _____ _____

norm group

Survey batteries are the most widely used national ______ tests.

norm-referenced standardized

A ______ score reveals the percentage of the distribution that lies at or below the score.

percentile-rank

Achievement tests are similar to aptitude tests in that both types of tests _____

produce results that are highly correlated

Identify a topic that is assessed by standardized subject-area tests but not included in survey batteries.

psychology

How often is the benchmark or interim assessment given?

quarterly

The ______ is the distance between the highest and lowest scores.

range

A ______ is the number of items the student answered correctly on the test.

raw score

The extent to which a test produces a consistent, reproducible score is its:

reliability.

Standardized achievement tests that focus on specific areas usually assess ______.

skills in a more detailed way than survey batteries

_____ have uniform procedures for administration and scoring and often allow a student's performance to be compared with the performance of other students at the same age or grade level on a national basis.

standararized tests

Which of the following tests is most likely to provide information about the academic performance of students over the years?

standardized tests

A ______ refers to a specific percentage of the normal curve's area

stanine

A ______ refers to a specific percentage of the normal curve's area.

stanine

A ______ describes a student's test performance on a 9-point scale ranging from 1 to 9.

stanine score

Grade-equivalent scores should be used only:

to interpret a student's progress.

True or false: Small differences in test scores are usually not meaningful.

true

Measures of ______ tell us how much the scores differ from one another.

variability

One of the concerns about the way high-stakes testing is currently structured is that it provides only general information about ______.

where a student stands relative to peers