Chapter 5
Chapter Focus
This chapter presents the basic mechanics of test design and test administration that the examiner
needs to know before administering norm-referenced tests. It first describes test construction, and
then explains various techniques for completing test protocols and administering instruments.
The chapter focuses on both individual norm-referenced testing and statewide high-stakes
accountability assessment are discussed.
Norm-referenced assessment is the method that compares a student with the age- or grade-level
expectancies of a norm group. It is the standard method used in special education placement and
categorical classification decisions when those decisions are appropriate. The degree or amount
of deviance from the expected norm is an important factor in determining whether a student
meets the eligibility requirements necessary to receive special education services (Shapiro,
1996).
Check Your Understanding
Activity 5.1
Refer to the tables in your text and answer the following questions.
1. In Table 5.1, what was the average score of the sample group of students in grade 7?
2. According to Table 5.1, what was the average number of correct items of the sample
group of students who were 16 years of age?
3. What was the average number of correct items of the sample group of students who were
6 years of age?
4. What might account for students who were in first grade having an average number of 14
correct responses while students in grade 6 had an average of 65 correct responses?
5. According to the information provided in Table 5.2, what was the average number of
correct responses for students in the third month of grade 3?
6. Were students in the sample tested during the third month of the third grade? By what
means was the average for each month of the school year determined?
7. According to the information provided in Table 5.3, what was the average number of
correct responses for students of the chronological age 11–2?
8. Write the meaning of the following expressions:
4.1 means
4–1 means
3.3 means
6–7 means
10.8 means
Apply Your Knowledge
Write an explanation for a parent that clarifies the difference between a grade equivalent score
and the grade level of academic functioning.
Activity 5.2
Calculate the chronological ages using the following birth dates and test dates.
Year
Month
Day
1.
Birth
Day
3-2-1991
Date of test
2001
5
4
Test Day
5-4-2001
Date of birth
1991
3
2
Age
2.
Birth
Day
7-5-1996
Date of test
2004
11
22
Test Day
11-22-2004
Date of birth
1996
7
5
Answer:
Chronological
4
17
Age
3.
Birth
Day
10-21-1997
Date of test
2000 (1999)
6 (18)
20 (50)
Test Day
6-20-2000
Date of birth
1997
10
21
Answer:
Chronological
Age
8
29
Round the following chronological ages to years and month.
Month
Day
Answer:
4.
10
23
7-11
5.
7
14
11-7
6.
11
29
15-0
Apply Your Knowledge
Why is it important to have the exact chronological age of a student before you administer and
score a test?
Answer:
Chronological
2
2
Activity 5.3
Using the following basal rules, identify basals for these students.
Test 1: Basal: 5 consecutive correct
Test 2: Basal: 7 consecutive correct
Example 1
Example 2
Apply Your Knowledge
What is the meaning of the term basal level, and how does it relate to a student’s ability?
Activity 5.4
Calculate the raw scores for the following protocol sections. Follow the given basal and ceiling
rules.
Protocol 1: Basal: 5 consecutive correct; Ceiling: 5 consecutive incorrect
Answer: 234
Protocol 2: Basal: 3 consecutive correct; Ceiling: 3 consecutive incorrect
1. Which protocol had more than one basal?
2. What were the basal items on protocol 1?
3. What were the ceiling items on protocol 1?
4. What were the basal items on protocol 2?
5. What were the ceiling items on protocol 2?
Apply Your Knowledge
What is the meaning of the term ceiling level, and how does it relate to the student’s ability?
Activity 5.5
Using the protocol and the responses in Figure 5.6, determine the basal and ceiling items for this
student.
1. How many trials are allowed for the training exercises on this subtest?
2. According to the responses shown, what items are included in the student’s basal level?
3. What directions are provided for establishing the basal level?
4. According to the responses shown, what items are included in the student’s ceiling level?
Apply Your Knowledge
What information are you able to learn from this page of the protocol?
Activity 5.6
Match these terms to the statements that follow.
a. alternate assessment
b. statewide assessment
c. high-stakes assessment
d. accommodations
1. Juan is receiving special education support in the general classroom setting. Although he
reads the same textbooks as other students, he must use a word processor to complete his
writing assignments. His IEP team has determined that he will require __ for his
standardized statewide assessment.
2. When assessment determines promotion to the next grade in secondary school, the
assessment is called ___.
3. Allowing students to complete assessment in a small group in a separate room is
considered a type of ____.
4. The IEP team must include statements that address ___.
5. Lupitina has been receiving her education in a self-contained special education
environment since she entered school. Her development is five years below the level of
her peers. The IEP team must determine if Lupitina should have accommodations for her
assessment or if she will require ___.
Think Ahead Exercises
Part I
1. When a test is being developed, the test developer attempts to have this represent the
population for whom the test is designed.
2. This step is completed using the developmental version to determine what changes are
needed prior to the completion of the published test.
3. This represents the level of items that the student would most probably answer correctly,
although they may not all be administered to the student.
4. When a teacher scores a classroom test including 10 items and determines that a student
correctly answered 7, the number 7 represents a____.
5. Information regarding how a test was developed is usually contained in the ____.
6. A student’s standard score that compares the student with age peers is found by using the
student’s raw score and the student’s ____ and the norm tables.
7. A teacher discovers that although only second, third, and fifth graders were included in
the norm sample of a test, scores were presented for fourth grade. The fourth-grade scores
were ____.
8. A student’s actual skill level is not represented by the ____.
9. Both individual and group assessments may be ____ that compare students with age or
grade expectations.
10. Students with disabilities who have IEPs and students who are served under Section 504
may need ____ for statewide assessments.
11. A student score that is reported to be exactly average with a score of 5 is reporting using
____ scores.
Part II
Select the type of accommodation and match with the following statements.
1. Lorenzo, who participates in the general curriculum, requires Braille for all reading
material. He will require changes in ____.
2. Lorenzo also requires the use of a stylus for writing or answers questions orally. He will
also require changes in ____.
3. When Samira is in the general classroom setting, she often is distracted and requires
additional time to complete her assignments. On her Section 504 plan, the team members
should include accommodations of ____.
4. Gregory is a student with a specific reading disability. In his general education
classroom, Gregory’s teacher and the classroom aide must read all directions to him and
often must read questions and multisyllabic words to him. On his IEP, the team has
included a statement of accommodation of ____.
Part III
Discuss the issues and concerns of the statewide assessment of students with disabilities.
Part IV
Using the portions from the KeyMath—Revised (Connolly, 1988) protocol in Figure 5.7,
determine the following.
1. Chronological age of examinee
2. Domain scores
3. Raw score
4. Basal item
5. Ceiling item
Course Progress Monitoring Assessment
1. The indicator of common variance of two variables.
2. This type of curriculum-based instrument does not have diagnostic capability unless an
error analysis of the student’s work is completed.
3. A developmental score that, when interpreted, may not be educationally useful.
4. These measures are often used when assessing very young children.
5. This type of validity looks at difficult-to-measure concepts.
6. This behavior rating scale includes a classroom observation instrument.
7. This measure indicates how much error may be on a test based on a score’s distance from
the mean.
8. This curriculum-based measure assesses the student’s performance to see if it is aligned
with the goal or aim line.
9. This method of measuring error on a test uses the standard deviation in the computation.
10. This measurement of error is usually used to calculate confidence intervals.
11. Both ____ and ____require that students be instructed using research-based interventions.
12. The ____ is a behavior rating system that includes forms for teachers, parents and the
student as well as a developmental interview for the parent.
13. The ____ includes a measure of the student’s attitude toward math.
14. The ____ case resulted in more careful assessment for the determination of mental
retardation.
15. The Stanford–Binet V categorizes scores within the 120–129 range as ____.
16. Regulatory disturbances might be assessed when the assessment involves ____.
17. The blending of isolated sounds into a whole word is known as ____.
18. For each student served in special education, a(n) ____must be in place to plan the
instruction.
19. Story starters might be useful in the informal assessment of ____.
20. As part of the process of the testing ____, previous educational experiences should be
considered.
NOTE: Answers to questions 11–20 provided above are not available in this portion of the text.
It would appear as if these questions were moved (or left behind) from a previous edition as
the answers are located significantly later in the text. Students would not be able to answer
these questions at this point in the reading.
Chapter 5 Test Bank
True and False
1. A norm-referenced assessment allows teachers to compare the performance of one
student with the average performance of other students who are of the same age or grade.
2. 6.4 is an example of an age equivalency.
3. Ceilings are thought to represent the level at which more difficult questions would not be
passed.
4. When calculating the raw score, all items that appear before the established basal are not
counted because they were not administered.
5. Teachers should ensure that tests are logical and serve the purpose for which they are
intended and recognize that no test has the capability of answering all achievement
questions.
6. Accommodations provided during high-stakes testing may not interfere with the content
of the assessment.
7. Accommodations may be used to account for a student’s language differences.
8. Factors such as socioeconomic status, race, culture, linguistic background, emotional
state and existing disabilities are variables that do not impact student performance on a
norm-referenced assessment because these variables have been filtered out during the
norming process.
9. An examiner should tell a student if they are getting the answers correct after each test
item is administered.
10. If you administer a test it is best to always administer every subtest in that test.