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Todays Topic

• Interpreting test results Students with severe
  disabilities

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Quick questions or quandaries?
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Announcements

• Standardized test descriptions due next week.
  Please come and see one of the instructors if you
  have questions -- don't wait until the last
  minute.
• Next week you will informally present what you
  learned about your assigned test in small groups.
  Please come prepared to share information with
  your colleagues -- a brief handout (1 page) with
  basic information on your test would be
  appreciated by your colleagues.

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Interested in Learning More about Dialects and
Bilingualism?

• LLSS 556 First and Second Language Development
  in Cultural Contexts
• LLSS 568 Alternative Assessment for English
  Language Learners
• SPCD 568 Multicultural Assessment
• Talk with Julia is you are interested in
  obtaining your ESL endorsement.

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Norm-referenced Tests

• Describe performance in terms of the relative
  position held in some known group (e.g., typed
  better than 90 percent of the class members).
• (Linn Gronlund, 2000, p. 42)
• NR assessments compare individual performance
  against others performance.

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Tests should not be administered to individuals
who are known to have specific handicapping
conditions if that test has not been
appropriately normed on their specific
population.
(Leary Boscardian, 1992, p. 54)
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Questions to ask

• Who was included in the normative sample?
• Was the normative sample adequately described?
• Was the normative sample similar to the students
  who are being tested with the instrument?

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More questions to ask

• Were students with disabilities included in the
  normative sample?
• If so
• What disabilities?
• How were they identified?
• What about students who require alternative
  response formats?

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Even more questions to ask

• Are any accommodations for student disability
  (i.e. sensory impairments) allowed on the
  assessment?
• If so, what changes in administration would be
  considered accommodations and what would be
  considered a modification?

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Accommodations vs. Modifications
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Accommodations do NOT change fundamental aspects
of the test.

• Ex. Extra time, breaks, limiting the number of
  questions visible at one time, bubbling answers
  in for students.

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Modifications DO change fundamental aspects of
the test and are therefore, not allowed.

• Ex. Reading a passage for students on a reading
  comprehension test, or, using a calculator on a
  basic math skills test.

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Brief Small Group Activity

• In small groups, review the handouts provided and
  prepare to report out on what youve learned
  about the difference between accommodations and
  modifications.

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CAUTION!
What is considered an accommodation versus a
modification differs by EACH test. Unless
specified as an allowable accommodation, ANY
change in administration procedures from those
specified in the manual will invalidate the use
of normative comparisons.
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If normative data do not exist for the
population for which a test is being
administered, it is the responsibility of the
examiner to validate the test for that specific
population. If the examiner fails to do so, the
results of the test will be considered invalid.
(Leary Boscardian, 1992, p. 53)
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Buyer Beware!
Dont buy a used car without looking under the
hood!
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IDEA Requirements for Evaluation
Tests are selected and administered so as best
to ensure that if a test is administered to a
child with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking
skills, the test results accurately reflect the
childs aptitude or achievement level or whatever
other factors the test purports to measure,
rather than reflecting the childs impaired
sensory, manual, or speaking skills (unless those
skills are the factors that the test purports to
measure).
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Main Points

• It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to
  develop adequate norms for diverse populations,
  such as individuals with multiple disabilities or
  culturally and linguistically diverse
  populations.

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Main Points

• Given the purpose of norm-referenced tests (in
  contrast to criterion-referenced tests) their
  usefulness with individuals who differ
  significantly from the normative group is highly
  questionable.

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Main Points

• The test results for these individuals must be
  interpreted with great caution.

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So what?
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10 minute break!
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Individual Seatwork

• Individually complete the worksheet you
  downloaded from the class outline.

20 minutes
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Small Group Activity

• In small groups (2-3 students) discuss

1. Your answers on the worksheet, and

• The information you will need to obtain to
  successfully complete the test description and
  critique assignment.

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Looking ahead

• Diagnostic Critique

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Please take a minute for the minute paper