Chapter 3 1

Selection of Assessment Tools

MUL TIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

01. Which factor is not considered in evaluating a measure's technical adequacy?

a.Reliability

b. Validity

c. Standardization sample or other standard of comparison

d. Whether the measure fits the purpose of assessment

02. Reliability

  1. refers to whether a test measures what it purports to me
  2. refers to whether a test is a consistent measure

c. is more important than validity

d. is not a concern with informal assessment tools

03. Which type of reliability is concerned with a measure's internal consistency?

  1. Test-retest
  2. Predictive
  3. Split half

      d. Construct

04. Which type of reliability is an index of how consistent test results are over time?

  1. Test-retest
  2. Predictive
  3. Split half

      d. Construct

05. If you wanted to establish the validity of a new test of gourmet cooking skills, what would be the best procedure?

a. Give the test once, then give it again 6 weeks later to the same group of students

b. Give the test and compare students' performance on odd items to performance on even-numbered items

c. Give the test and, at the same time, give another test of cooking skills that has already been established as valid

  1. Have experts look at the test items

 

06. A percentile rank of 73 indicates

a. the student answered 73% of the questions correctly

b. the student's performance equaled or exceeded that of norm group

c. the student's performance was inferior to that of 73% 01 group

d. the student's performance falls within the range associated with mental retardation

07. A test's standard error of measurement

  1. increases as the test's standard deviation decreases 
  2. increases as the test's reliability decreases
  3. decreases as the test's mean increases

      d. stays the same no matter what the test's standard deviation is

08. According to your text, which is the best type of score for reporting test results?

a. Age equivalent

b. Grade equivalent

c. Stanine

d. Standard score

09. All of the following are types of measurement scales except

  1. nominal
  2. percentile
  3. ratio
  4. ordinal

10. The best source of information about the characteristics of the standardization sample of a particular test is ~

  1. Mental Measurements Yearbook series
  2. the manual that accompanies the test
  3. professional journals
  4. Tests in Print

11 .As the variability of the scores of an assessment device increases, error

a. increases

b. decreases

c. stays the same

d. may increase or decrease

12. The type of measure that does not produce interval data is

  1. classroom quizzes
  2. b. checklists
  3. Likert-type rating scales
  4. d. inventories 

 

13. Federal laws such as PL 94-142 and IDEA do not attempt to regulate

a. the use of intelligence tests

b. selection of assessment tools and their administration

c. classroom assessment for instructional decisions

d. communication with parents during the assessment

14. In evaluating the reliability of a test, your text suggests 1001 minimum correlation coefficient of

  1. .80
  2. .85
  3. .90

d. .95

15. Age and grade equivalents are

  1. interval data
  2. ratio data

      c. ordinal data

      d. all of the above

16. If a measure has a mean of 100, standard deviation of 15, and scores are normally distributed, a score of 70 would fall

a. two standard deviations above the mean

b. within one standard deviation of the mean

c. one standard deviation below the mean

d. two standard deviations below the mean

17. According to federal guidelines, intelligence tests may be used in assessment only if they are accompanied by

  1. measures that assess educational needs
  2. at least 5 informal measures
  3. measures of adaptive behavior and perceptual functioning
  4. classroom observations and phone interviews with parents

18. The four types of measurement scales are

  1. aptitude, attitude, achievement, and adaptation
  2. standardized, normed, referenced, and criterion

c. nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio

d. formal, informal, survey, and observation

19. Measures of central tendency are

a. mean, mode, and median

b. variability, range, and standard deviation

c. distributed evenly

d. answers a and b

 

20. The manual that accompanies an assessment tool should contain information about

a. the purpose of the measure

b. how the measure was constructed

c. norming, reliability, and validity studies

d. all of the above

21 .Assessment of students who are ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse must be approached cautiously because

a. students should not be penalized for linguistic and cultural differences

b. some tests may contain items that are culturally biased

c. using an interpreter to administer a test to an individual who speaks a language other than English can change the nature of the questions and violate standardization conditions

d. all of the above

22. The ban on the use of individual intelligence tests with African American students in California was lifted in 1992 for all disabilities except

  1. learning disabilities
  2. mental retardation
  3. emotional disturbance/behavioral disorders
  4. speech and language disorders

TRUE-FALSE QUESTIONS

01. Correlation techniques are the most usual method for studying reliability.

02. Criterion-referenced measures are always less biased than referenced measures.

03. To reduce measurement error, instruments with low variability and high reliability should be selected.

04. Age and grade scores are examples of nominal data.

05. Assessment tools should be selected to minimize the effects of the disability unless the purpose of assessment is study of the disability itself.

06. Criticism of special education in the 1960s and early 1970s centered around misuse of intelligence tests with culturally and linguistically diverse students.

07. Assessment must be comprehensive and include all pert educational performance.

 

08. According to federal law, if a student's native language is not English, the  assessment must be conducted in the student's native language, even if ..." appropriate assessment tools are not available.

09. A major concern in the selection of assessment tools is whether they provide the information needed to answer the assessment questions.

10. In selecting assessment tools, it is important to consider the presentation mode, that is, the method by which students must answer questions or respond to assessment tasks.

11 .The standard of performance for criterion-referenced tests is the performance of the standardization sample.

12. Norm groups are typically drawn from general education classrooms in which students with mild disabilities are included.

13. The potential for bias in assessment is limited to the selection and administration of norm-referenced tests.

14. To determine a measure's test-retest reliability, the measure is administered to a group of students and then readministered to the same group a few weeks later.

 15. Predictive validity is concerned with the relationship between the scores ~ that various evaluators assign to student responses.

16. When administration procedures are altered, norm-referenced tests become informal procedures and test norms are no longer valid.

17. One difficulty in meeting requirements for nondiscriminatory assessment is the lack of agreement about what constitutes nondiscriminatory assessment.

18. If two assessment tools are equally effective, the most efficient one should be selected.

COMPLETION QUESTIONS

01. Assessment is the process of gathering _______________to answer important educational questions.

02. The professional first determines the adequacy of an assessment tool and then its _______________value for the particular assessment task.

03. Assessment tools must be free of racial and cultural _______________.

04. Every effort must be made to provide assessment tools in the _______________ of the student being assessed.

05. Assessment tools must not _______________on the basis of a student's disability.

06. According to federal law, assessment must be conducted by a(n)  _______________team.

07. The tools selected for assessment must be validated for the specific _______________ for which they will be used.

08. To avoid administration and interpretation errors, only _______________professionals should conduct the assessment.

09. In a(n) _______________scale of measurement, persons or other objects of study are ranked or placed in a sequence.

10. The scale of measurement that is divided into categories is the _______________scale.

11. A(n) _______________scale of measurement begins with a true zero and has equal intervals between units of measurement.

12. To determine the appropriateness of test _______________, it is necessary to consider factors such as age, grade, gender, method of selection, and representativeness.

13. A test is considered _______________if it measures what it purports to measure.

14. The arithmetic average of a group of scores is called the _______________.

15. The best estimate of score variability is the standard _______________ because it takes into account each score's relationship to the mean.

16. The most controversial suggested solution to the problem of discriminatory assessment is a(n) ______________ on standardized testing.