• Specific Learning Disability

  • a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations

  • was diagnosed is a significant discrepancy existed between the child’s measured intellectual ability and the level of achievement that could reasonably be expected from the child in one or more areas

• Response to Intervention (RtI)

  • In the mid-1970s, the federal mandate to identify and assist children with learning problems defined a learning disability as a “severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability”

  • RtI Model: a multilevel prevention framework applied in educational settings that is designed to maximize student achievement through the use of data that identifies students at risk for poor learning outcomes combined with evidence-based intervention and teaching

The Role of Testing and Assessment in Education

• Response to Intervention (RtI)

  • The RtI model is multilevel because there are at least 3 levels of intervention

    • Level 1: The classroom environment wherein all students are being taught whatever the teacher is teaching

    • Level 2: A small group of learners who have failed to make adequate progress in the classroom have been segregated for special teaching

    • Level 3: Individually-tailored and administered instruction for students who have failed to respond to the second level of intervention

  • The RtI model aims to accelerate the learning process for all students as well as identify students with learning disabilities

  • Implementation is often done according to a problem-solving model, while some states and districts rely on a general intervention policy

  • Integrative Assessment: a multidisciplinary approach to evaluation that assimilates input from relevant sources

• Achievement Tests: designed to measure accomplishment

  • In most educational settings, achievement tests are used to gauge student progress toward instructional objectives, compare an individual’s accomplishments to peers, and help determine what activities might best propel the students toward goals

  • may be standardized nationally, regionally, or locally, or not at all

  • scores may be put to a wide variety of uses

  • measures of general achievement may survey learning in one or more academic areas

    • tests that cover a number of academic areas are typically divided into several subtests and referred to as achievement batteries

• Aptitude Test: tend to focus on informal learning or life experiences rather than structured learning, as is normally assessed in achievement tests

  • also referred to a prognostic tests and are typically used to make predictions, generally on a broader fund of information and abilities

• Aptitude Tests at the Preschool Level

  • Aptitude during this time of development is generally referred to as “readiness”

  • At this level, such assessment is largely a matter of determining whether a child’s cognitive, emotional, and social development is appropriate for the child’s age

  • Checklists and rating scales are tools commonly used with preschoolers

  • Psychological Tests

    • by the age of 2, children provide a unique challenge to assessors in terms of evaluation and assessment

    • language and conceptual skills emerge, but are not advanced enough to assess using traditional tests

    • the attention span of a preschooler is short

    • motivation in the child may vary from one test to the next

    • tests such as the WPPI-III and the SB-5 may be used to gauge developmental strengths and weaknesses, but interpretation of these scores proves questionable at times

• Aptitude Tests at the Elementary-School Level

  • children of the same chronological age may vary widely in their abilities

  • school readiness tests provide educators with a measure to assess an incoming student’s abilities

  • Metropolitan Readiness Test (6th edition; MRT-6) is a test battery that assesses the development of the reading and math skills important in the early stages of formal learning

• Aptitude Tests at the Secondary-School Level

  • Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) consists of a number of tests

    • a multipart test referred to as the SAT (containing measures of reading, writing, and mathematics)

    • SAT subject tests

  • The SAT developers claim that SAT scores, combined with a consideration of its GPA, yields the best available predictor of academic success in college

    • Understandably, a great deal of controversy surrounds this statement

  • American College Testing Assessment (ACT) is a curriculum-based college entrance exam, wherein scores may be predictive of creativity as well as academic success

  • some evidence suggests that the ACT and the SAT scores were highly correlated with general intelligence

• Aptitude Tests at the College Level and Beyond

  • Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

    • An entrance examination contains verbal, quantitative, and analytical reasoning sections

  • Many independent researchers have examined the test with regard to psychometric variables

    • Some evidence supports its utility, but other evidence refutes such usefulness

  • Miller Analogies Test (MAT)

    • a 100-item multiple choice analogy test that examines the test taker’s ability to perceive relationships as well as his/her general intelligence, vocabulary, and academic learning

  • Medical College Admission Test (MCAT0

    • consists of 4 sections: Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences, Writing Sample, and Biological Sciences

      • one group of investigators examined the ability of the MCAT to predict performance in medical school and medical licensing exams and concluded that predictive validity was “impressive”

• Diagnostic Test: a tool used to identify areas of deficit to be targeted for intervention

  • Reading Tests

    • The Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests - Revised (WRMT-III) is a paper-and-pencil measure of reading readiness, reading achievement, and reading difficulties

      • Other reading tests include the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test, the Metropolitan Reading Instructional Tests, the Diagnostic Reading Scales, and the Durrell Analysis of Reading Test

  • Math Tests

    • The Stanford Diagnostic Mathematics Test, 4th Ed. (SDMT)-4) is a standardized test that can provide useful diagnostic insights with regard to the mathematical abilities of children from preschool to college age

    • The KeyMath3-DA is a standardized test for administration to children as young as 4 and half to adults as old as 21

    • Both tests, and many others, help diagnose difficulties with arithmetic and mathematical concepts

• Psychoeducational Test Battery: a test kit that generally contains 2 types of tests: those that measure abilities related to academic success and those that measure educational achievement

  • allow for normative comparisons as well as individual evaluation of strength and weakness

• Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC)

  • designed for use with ages 2 and a half to 12 and a half

  • Subtests measuring both intelligence and achievement are included, divided into 2 subgroups reflecting the 2 kinds of information-processing skills: simultaneous and sequential skills

  • recommendations for teaching based on Kaufman and Kaufman’s (1983) concept of processing strength can be derived from these test findings

    • a student whose strength is sequential processing should be taught using the guidelines for sequential learners

• Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, 2nd Ed. (K-ABC-II)

  • designed for use with ages 3 to 18

  • the grounding in Luria’s theory of sequential vs simultaneous processing theory was expanded

  • a grounding in the CHC theory was added, providing the examiner with a choice as to which model of test interpretation was optimal for the testing situation

• Performance, Portfolio

  • “Performance assessment” has historically referred to any type of assessment that requires the examinee to do more than choose the correct response

    • essay questions, research proposals

  • Performance Task: a work sample designed to elicit representative knowledge, skills, and values from a particular domain of study

  • Portfolio Assessment: a form of performance assessment that refers to the evaluations of one’s work samples