Overheads for Unit 10--Chapter 18 (Test Selection, Administration, and Use)

OH 1
Principles of Proper Test Use

• There are many sources of information about published tests (books that review them, etc.)
• There are very specific professional standards that test developers must meet (Code of Fair Testing, APA/AERA/NCME Standards, etc.)
• Those professional standards guide test interpretation too
• You can learn a lot about what to look for and to avoid if you look at the published test standards

OH 2
Selecting Appropriate Tests

Aim

• Select tests that can help, not hinder, instructional planning and student learning
• Use scores in way that has positive, not negative, consequences

Process

1. Define testing needs
• What information, specifically, am I seeking?
2. Narrow the alternatives
• Does the test fit into the total measurement plan?
• Do we have people qualified to administer it?
3. Locate suitable tests
• There are good evaluative guides
4. Get specimen sets (for finalists)
• They include test manuals, etc.
5. Review the test materials
• Compare test items to a table of specifications
• Using a test evaluation form helps (see example on p. 462)

OH 3
Administering Published Tests

Aim

• To give the test under highly standardized conditions
• Conditions are specified by test publisher

Guidelines

1. Review Test Giver’s Checklist (p. 467)
2. Motivate students to do their best

• Explain purpose
• Describe advantages of giving their best effort (including instructional value), but don’t create anxiety
• Take positive attitude toward the test
• Humor helps

3. Follow directions strictly—essential!
• Read directions word for word (never paraphrase or modify them)
• Follow instructions in the test guide for answering any questions. Do not deviate at all; do not give any hints.

2. Keep time accurately
• Use a stopwatch for short subtests
• Watch with second hand OK for longer tests
• Record starting and stopping times
3. Record significant events
• Carefully observe students (say, for extreme anxiety)
• Record any interruptions and their impact on testing conditions
4. Collect tests promptly
• Make sure all students stop work immediately
• Secure all materials promptly

OH 4
Improving Students’ Test-Taking Skills

Sensible to provide students some common-sense tips on test-taking (there is no magic, except to know the material)

1. Listen to or read directions carefully
2. Listen to or read test items carefully
3. Set a realistic pace
4. Bypass and return to difficult items later
5. Make informed guesses rather than not answering
6. Eliminate as many alternatives as possible before guessing
7. Follow directions carefully in marking the answer sheet
8. Check that item number and answer number match when marking an answer
9. Check that the appropriate response was actually marked
10. Go back and check answers if time permits

OH 5
Unsound and Unethical Test Preparation Practices

Unsound

• To distort instruction with excessive test preparation (learning objectives suffer)
• To use practice materials that closely mimic the actual test (test loses validity)

Unethical

• Providing practice on the test’s actual items

OH 6
Possible Uses of Published Tests

1. Plan Instruction

• Identify the level and range of ability among students
• Identify areas of instruction needing greater emphasis
• Identify discrepancies between learning ability and achievement (be cautious here)
• Diagnose learning errors and plan remedial instruction (in basic reading and math skills)
• Clarify and select instructional objectives

o Forces us to state objectives clearly

o Clarifies how to measure our objectives

o Indicates possible additional objectives

2. Individualize instruction
3. Identify needs of exceptional children
4. Monitor educational progress over extended periods
5. Provide parents with independent source of information
• Help students make educational and vocational choices
• Other, administrative (p. 471)

OH 7
Misuses of Published Tests

1. Whenever there is:

· Inadequate attention to learning objectives

· Failure to recognize limited role of tests in total assessment program

· Unquestioning faith in test results

· Group tested differs markedly from the group for whom the test was designed

2. To assign course grades (except when test and objectives are closely aligned for that purpose)

3. As the sole basis for retaining students in grade or placing them in a remedial track

4. To evaluate teaching effectiveness