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It is important, however, to remember. List of standardized tests in the United States. Otis-Lennon School Ability Test. ACT - formerly American College Testing Program or American College Test; CLT. Standardized Testing . There are two types of standardized testing instruments: norm- referenced tests and criterion- referenced tests (IRA/NCTE Joint Task Force on Assessment, 1. The former testing instruments yield scores that compare the examinee\'s scores to that of a representative sample (the normative group) of same- age or grade peers. The latter type of testing instrument involves comparing an examinee\'s score to a predetermined criterion (such as a school curriculum). Norm- referenced Tests. Academic achievement tests and cognitive tests, commonly referred to as IQ tests, are well known examples of norm- referenced, standardized tests given to individuals. Most norm- referenced test batteries include a manual and/or computerized scoring program that (1) provides information regarding the normative, or standardization, sample; (2) provides information on reliability and validity, (3) provides language and presentation of items administration and scoring information, and (4) provides guidelines for the interpretation of the test results. A coalition of unions and government reform groups are calling for a ban on standardized testing for New York’s school children in second grade and younger. Standardized Testing and Its Victims. Standardized testing has swelled and. Norm- referenced test performance is generally summarized as one or more types of scores such as age- equivalence, grade- equivalence, percentile rankings, stanine, scaled scores, indexes, clusters, or quotients (Mercer, 1. Newer editions of test instruments follow an item- response- theory procedure in their development which can allow for a new type of scores. These scores (called W- , Growth, Change- Sensitive, Growth- Score- Value) allow an examinee\'s performance to be measured against themselves by establishing the difficulty level of the items. Criterion- referenced Tests. Criterion- referenced tests are similar to norm- referenced tests in terms of administration, scoring, and format; however, they differ in terms of interpretation. Criterion- referenced test interpretation involves evaluating an examinee\'s performance in relation to a specific criterion. For instance, if a criterion were “the ability to subtract single digit numbers,” the interpretation would involve indicating simply whether or not the student answered the administered subtraction problem items correctly. A norm- referenced test interpretation, however, would involve whether this student correctly answered more questions compared to others in the normative group. Generally, criterion- referenced performance is summarized as percentage correct or represented as a grade- equivalent score (Weaver, 1. Witt, Elliot, Daly, Gresham, & Kramer, 1. Criterion- referenced tests are sometimes misunderstood. Although these types of test can involve the use of a cutoff score (e. Rather, the criterion refers to the content area domain that the test is intended to assess (Witt et al., 1. The quality, or adequacy, of any standardized testing instrument, whether norm- referenced or criterion- referenced, is directly empirically supported by both reliability and validity studies. Professional testing associations or organizations often publish standards that practitioners can refer to when evaluating the quality of a testing instrument. For instance, in the field of psychometrics, there is a set of standards titled, “Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing” which psychologists and other related practitioners can refer to when interested in the standards of test development or construction, fairness in testing, and testing applications. Additionally, practitioners can learn about the psychometric properties (e. Mental Measurements Yearbooks and Tests in Print, both available from the Buros Institute of Mental Measurements and housed within most major libraries (Mercer, 1. Test Critiques, available from Pro- Ed Publishers. Using standardized tests to conduct assessments is advantageous for several reasons. First, because standardized tests yield quantifiable information (scores, proficiency levels, and so forth), results can be used in screening programs (e. Second, standardized test results provide information regarding an examinee\'s areas of strength and weakness. Third, standardized test results allow a student to be compared to age- or grade- peers. Finally, standardized tests can be used to assess students\' progress over time (e. IRA/NCTE Joint Task Force on Assessment, 1. Witt et al., 1. 99. The most important advantage of results from a test administered in a standardized fashion is that the results can be documented and empirically verified. This then allows for the results to be interpreted and ideas about an individual\'s skills generalized. Although standardized testing is beneficial in some situations, its use has been criticized, specifically because such measures fail to inform instruction adequately. HOW STANDARDIZED TESTING DAMAGES EDUCATION. How do schools use standardized tests? The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era has seen an unprecedented expansion of. Standardized administrations may not be possible for some students with disabilities. Some disabled students can take some test in the established standardized way with some accommodations. Some accommodations, however, can become modifications to the trait or concept attempting to be measured. Some other common criticisms or disadvantages of standardized tests are as follows: (1) standardized test items frequently are unrelated to those tasks and behaviors required in the classroom setting, (2) standardized test results reflect behavior or ability that has been measured during a single point in time and, as such, are greatly influenced by noncognitive factors (e. Fuchs & Fuchs, 1. Haywood & Tzuriel, 1. Quinto & Mc. Kenna, 1. Tzuriel, 2. 00. 1; Tzuriel & Samuels, 2. Partly due to the criticisms of standardized testing and the need to generate information that can more directly guide instruction, alternatives to standardized testing have arisen. While there are various alternatives, three of the most commonly used alternatives are curriculum- based assessment, dynamic assessment, and alternative, or portfolio- based, assessment approaches. Curriculum- Based Assessment. Although curriculum- based assessment (CBA) falls under the umbrella of criterion- referenced testing, it is thought of as an alternative to traditional, standardized norm- referenced academic testing. Curriculum- based assessment refers to a measurement method that relies on “direct observation and recording of a student\'s performance in the local curriculum as a basis for gathering information to make instructional decisions” (Deno, 1. CBA has also been referred to as direct assessment of the mastery of academic skills, and although models of CBA may differ, all share the common foundational assumption that one should assess what is taught, or more simply, “test what one teaches.” Typically, CBA approaches involve repeated assessment of specific academic skills (Lentz, 1. In each academic area, probes are developed (e. The curricular materials from the examinee\'s immediate learning environment are used to develop CBA probes. Given this, CBA provides a structured method for evaluating students\' performances on curricular assignments used in their actual academic setting. Generally, a student\'s responses are evaluated in terms of speed or proficiency, as well as for accuracy. Performance criteria are then developed to determine acceptable levels of student performance or mastery (Witt et al., 1. Normative sampling is one procedure employed for establishing mastery criteria (Idol, 1. This procedure involves collecting samples of average or acceptable student performance in the general education setting and using such samples to decide what the absolute mastery criteria should be. In some cases, a referred student may be so far below the levels of acceptable performance that a type of changing criterion design might have to be implemented. This type of design, which would allow the mastery criteria to reflect the classroom average, would permit a lowering of the criteria for subsequent instruction, and then allow the criteria to be made more stringent until the student reached the changed classroom average. Overall, the basic assumption of a CBA approach is that in evaluating students\' progress in reading and writing, researchers should observe them reading and writing in their academic environment, and should collect such data often so that they can efficiently ascertain whether a student is progressing adequately or falling behind. The ability to generalize from the results of CBA tests is limited. Dynamic Assessment. Dynamic assessment refers to a particular type of learning assessment that involves the use of an active teaching process (Lidz, 1. The goal of this teaching process is to “modify” an individual\'s cognitive functioning and to observe subsequent changes in the examinee\'s learning and use of problem- solving strategies. The primary goals of dynamic assessment are to (1) assess a student\'s ability to understand principles underlying a problem and to use that understanding to generate a solution, (2) assess the type and amount of teaching necessary to teach a student a specific rule or principle, and (3) identify any cognitive deficits and noncognitive factors that assist in explaining performance failures and to determine whether such factors can be modified by teaching alone (Lidz, 1. Dynamic assessment directly contrasts with static assessment procedures (i. A static test is usually based on a “question, record, and score” format wherein the examiner presents the question, records the examinee\'s response, and awards a prescribed number of points, based on the examinee\'s given response. The difference between static and dynamic assessment approaches stems from the paradigms from which they emerged. Static assessment generally involves “passive acceptance,” wherein a child\'s deficits or disabilities are accepted and the environment is modified to help the child work within any identified limitations (Haywood, 1.
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