Chapter 3 Selection of Assessment Tools

Council of Exceptional Children’s Professional Standards All special educators should possess a common core of knowledge and skills related to assessment: Basic terminology used in assessment Legal provisions and ethical principles regarding assessment of individuals Screening, prereferral, referral and classification procedures Use and limitations of assessment instruments National, state, or provincial, and local accommodations and modifications

Legal Guidelines for Assessment Assessment is: Nondiscriminatory Focuses on educational needs Comprehensive and multidisciplinary Assessment tools are technically adequate and are administered by trained professionals Rights of parents and students are protected

Professional Guidelines Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (1985) Test publishers’ catalogs and manuals Mental Measurements Yearbooks series Tests in Print IV ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation (

Evaluation Criteria The tool must fit the purpose of the assessment The assessment instrument must be appropriate for the student The assessment instrument should match the skills of the professional using it The assessment tool must be technically adequate The assessment instrument should be efficient

Measurement Terminology Measurement scales may be: Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio Descriptive statistics include measures of: Central tendency Measures of variability Correlation

Evaluating Technical Quality of Assessment Tools Age, grade, and gender of norm group members should match characteristics of the students assessed Random selection is preferable Norm group should be representative of the population and should be of adequate size Test norms should be recent to reflect current standards

Reliability Test-retest reliability refers to consistency or measure from one administration to the next Split-half reliability is concerned with internal consistency Interrater or interobserver reliability is concerned with consistency among evaluators

Validity Content validity is the extent to which the instrument represents the content of interest Criterion-related validity relies on an outside criterion and may examine predictive validity or concurrent validity Construct validity examines the instrument and the theoretical construct it intends to measure

Measurement Error Related to variability and reliability of an assessment device Standard error of measurement can be quantified

Test Scores Informal Measures Frequency counts and percentages are interval data Criterion-referenced tests yield nominal data Rating scales provide ordinal data

Norm-Referenced Test Scores Age and grade equivalent are ordinal scores Percentile rank scores Standard scores use a set mean and standard deviation Stanines represent a range of performance

Normal Distribution

Relationship Between Types of Scores

Promoting Nonbiased Assessment For students whose primary language is not English, tests and test directions should be translated into the home language Interpreters may be used in the assessment of students who speak languages other than English Culture-free and culture-fair measures attempt to minimize bias

Promoting Nonbiased Assessment, continued Culture-specific measures relate directly to specific cultures Separate norms may be provided for students from diverse groups Pluralistic measures assess a broad range of skills Test administration procedures may be modified

Promoting Nonbiased Assessment, continued Dynamic assessment can be used to study the student’s learning ability Standardized tests can be replaced with informal procedures Standardized testing could be abolished

Selection of Nondiscriminatory Assessment Tools Norm groups should be representative of the race, culture, and gender of the student to be assessed Tests containing items that reflect cultural bias should be avoided The tools for assessment should minimize the effects of the disability