12/7/09

Func,onsofStandardizedTests
StudentAssessment
Diagnosis
PlacementandSelec3on
Accountability
Predic3veValidity

Whatisastandardizedtest?
Atestthathasstandardproceduresfor
administra3on,scoring,andinterpreta3on.

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AdvantagesofStandardizedTests
Evalua3ngstudentsgeneraleduca3onal
developmentinthebasicskills&inlearning
outcomescommontomanycoursesofstudy
Evalua3ngstudentprogressduringtheschool
yearoroveraperiodofyears
Determiningstrengths&weaknesses

WeaknessesofStandardizedTests
Evalua3ngthelearningoutcomesand
contentuniquetoapar3cularclassorschool
Evalua3ngstudentsdaytodayprogress
Evalua3ngknowledgeofcurrent
developmentsinrapidlychangingcontent
areassuchasscienceandsocialstudies

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TypesofAchievementTests
StateDevelopedTests
N.C.EOGs,FLFCATs,VAsSOLs
PublisherDevelopedNormreferencedba:eries
ITBS,CAT,GRE,Stanf.Ach.Test
PublisherDevelopedNormreferencedcontentarea
tests
NelsonDenny,GatesMcGini3e
PublisherDevelopedCriterionreferencedtests

Somepopularteststobeawareof:

CaliforniaAchievementTest(CAT)
IowaTestsofBasicSkills(ITBS)
MetropolitanAchievementTests(MAT)
StanfordAchievementTests
TerraNova

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Whydoweusethese?
Hightechnicalquality
Standarddirec3onsforadministra3onand
scoring
Normsbaseduponna3onallargena3onal
samples
Equivalentforms
Comprehensivemanuals

UsingAchievementTests:
Bewaryofusingsubtestsfordiagnos3c
purposesunlessenoughitemsareincluded
Whatisanormgroupandwhatisthebenet
ofhavinganormgroup?
Normgroupsprovideastandardframeof
reference
Equivalentforms

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JudgingtheAdequacyofNorms
Shouldberelevant(Whodoyouwantto
compareyourscoresto?)
Shouldberepresenta3ve
Shouldbeuptodate
Shouldbecomparable
Shouldbeadequatelydescribed

AchievementBaOeries
Consistsofaseriesofindividualtestsall
standardizedonthesamena3onalsample

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Wheretondinfoontests:
MentalMeasurementYearbook(MMY)
MMYpublishedbyBurosCenterforTes3ng
hOp://www.unl.edu/buros/

SomeAp,tude/Intelligencetests
tobeawareof:
WechslerIntelligenceTests(WISC,WAIS)
StanfordBinet
RavensAdvancedProgressiveMatrices
Cogni3veAbili3esTest(CogAT)
GraduateRecordExamina3on(GRE)
O3sLennonSchoolAbilityTest(OLSAT)
CaYellCultureFairIntelligenceTests
ArmedServicesVoca3onalAp3tudeBaYery
(ASVAB)
Dieren3alAp3tudeTest(DAT)

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Ap,tudeTests
Donotmeasurexedcapacitybutrathera
dierenttypeofabilityusedtopredictfuture
performance
Commondis3nc3on:achievementtests
measurewhatastudenthaslearnedandthat
ap3tudetestsmeasuretheabilitytolearn
newtasks

Whyuseap,tudetestswhenyouhave
achievementtests?
Canbeadministeredinarela3velyshort3me
Canbeusedwithstudentsofmorewidely
varyingeduca3onalbackgrounds
Canbeusedbeforeanytrainingorinstruc3on

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Specictheoriesofimportance:

Spearmanvs.Thurstone
Guilfords120abili3es
Crystallized&Fluidintelligence
Gardnersmul3pleintelligences
OthersincludeDavidPerkins&Robert
Sternberg

Whatisgeneralintelligence?
Generalabilitytypicallymeasuredvia
standardizedtestssymbolizedasg
Predic3vepowerstrongestwhenfacing
noveltasksorbeginningcompetence
Consideredtobereasoningability
(typicallyinduc3ve)thatishighly
dependentuponworkingmemory
makingtransforma3onsinyourhead

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Normal distributions (bell shaped) are a

family of distributions that have the
same general shape. They are
symmetric (the left side is an exact
mirror of the right side) with scores
more concentrated in the middle than
in the tails. Examples of normal
distributions are shown to the right.
Notice that they differ in how spread
out they are. The area under each
curve is the same.

If your data fits a normal distribution, approximately 68% of your subjects will fall
within one standard deviation of the mean.

Approximately 95% of your subjects will fall within two standard deviations of
the mean.
Over 99% of your subjects will fall within three standard deviations of the
mean.

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The mean and standard deviation are useful ways to describe a set of
scores. If the scores are grouped closely together, they will have a smaller
standard deviation than if they are spread farther apart.

Small Standard Deviation

Same Means
Different Standard Deviations

Large Standard Deviation

Different Means
Same Standard Deviations

Different Means
Different Standard Deviations

When you have a subjects raw score, you can use the mean
and standard deviation to calculate his or her standardized
score if the distribution of scores is normal. Standardized
scores are useful when comparing a students performance
across different tests, or when comparing students with each
other.

z-score

-3

-2

-1

T-score

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

IQ-score

65

70

85

100

115

130

145

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

SAT-score

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The number of points that one standard deviation equals varies from distribution to
distribution. On one math test, a standard deviation may be 7 points. If the mean
were 45, then we would know that 68% of the students scored from 38 to 52.

24

31

38

45
52
59
Points on Math Test

63

On another test, a standard

deviation may equal 5 points. If the
mean were 45, then 68% of the
students would score from 40 to 50
points.
30

35

40
45
50
55
Points on a Different Test

60

Data do not always form a normal distribution. When most of the scores are high,
the distributions is not normal, but negatively (left) skewed.

Skew refers to the tail of the distribution.

Number of People with

that Shoe Size

Because the tail is on the negative (left) side of the graph, the distribution has a
negative (left) skew.
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

9 10 11 12 13 14
Length of Right Foot

11

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When most of the scores are low, the distributions is not normal, but positively
(right) skewed.

Number of People with

that Shoe Size

Because the tail is on the positive (right) side of the graph, the distribution has a
positive (right) skew.

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

9 10 11 12 13 14
Length of Right Foot

When data are skewed, they do not possess the characteristics of the
normal curve (distribution). For example, 68% of the subjects do not fall
within one standard deviation above or below the mean. The mean, mode,
and median do not fall on the same score. The mode will still be
represented by the highest point of the distribution, but the mean will be
toward the side with the tail and the median will fall between the mode and
mean.

Negative or Left Skew Distribution

Positive or Right Skew Distribution

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StandardScores
Acalculatedscorethatenablesaresearcher
tocomparescoresfromdierentscales
Zscoremostpopular(meanofzeroandSDof
one)
z=(XM)/SD

13

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SomePopularStandardScores

TScores
Anothertypeofstandardscoresome3mes
preferredbecauseallnumbersareposi3ve
Tscore=50+10(z)
Example:Ifyouscored2SDsabovethe
meanonareadingtestyourTscorewouldbe
50+10(2)=70

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Stanines
Anothertypeofstandardscorepreferred
forinterpretability
Scorebetween1and9witheachstanine
covering1/2standarddevia3onunit(e.g.,
stanineof5=40%ile59%ile)

AvoidMisconcep,onswithGradeEquivalent
Scores
Dontconfusenormswithstandardsofwhat
shouldbe
Dontinterpretagradeequivalentasan
es3mateofthegradewhereastudentshould
beplaced
Dontexpectthatallstudentsshouldgain1.0
gradeequivalenteachyear
Dontassumethattheunitsareequalat
dierentpartsofthescale

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AvoidMisconcep,onswithGradeEquivalent
Scores
Dontassumethatscoresondierenttests
arecomparable
Dontinterpretextremescoresas
dependablees3matesofstudent
performancelevel

Na,onalTes,ngProgram:NAEP
NAEPNa3onalAssessmentofEduca3onal
Progress
Formulatedinthe1960stoprovidebenchmarksof
educa3onalaYainment
Nowtestsatgrades4,8,and12
Subjectareaschangedependingonyear
Includesmul3plechoiceandopenendedtestitems

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