Deck 2: Basic Assessment Principles

Question 1

Norm-referenced instruments are to criterion-referenced instruments as: ​

A)mastery is to teacher constructed.
B)reliability is to validity.
C)good is to bad.
D)group comparison is to individual level of performance.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Ranking your classmates on their performance on an exam is an example of what type of scale? ​

A)Nominal
B)Ordinal ​
C)Interval
D)Ratio

Answer 2

B

Question 3

A frequency polygon is a: ​

A)statistical test of significance.
B)representation of grade equivalent scores. ​
C)graphic representation of the frequency of scores. ​
D)graph of the validity evidence for an instrument. ​

Answer 3

C

Question 4

A normalized distribution of scores has: ​

A)a single peak in the center and the same score for the mean, mode, and median.
B)no peak, thus measures of central tendency are not relevant.
C)has two equidistant peaks with the same score for the mean, mode, and median between peaks.
D)a single peak in the center but the scores for the mean, mode, and median can vary.

Question 5

An academic achievement test is developed to measure mastery of a multiplication table.  Mastery is defined as getting 100% of the multiplication items correct.  This instrument is an example of a: ​

A)norm-referenced test.
B)criterion-referenced test.
C)standardized test.
D)performance test.

Question 6

The correct order of the following scales of measurement, from least precise to most precise, is: ​

A)ordinal, nominal interval, ratio.
B)nominal, interval, ordinal, ratio.
C)ordinal, nominal, ratio, interval.
D)nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio.

Question 7

Norm-referenced instruments are most useful for: ​

A)determining if an individual has mastered certain material.
B)establishing minimum levels of competence. ​
C)comparing an individual's performance with other individuals.
D)comparing performance to a standard.

Question 8

Which of these constructs can not be measured using a ratio scale? ​

A)Height
B)Temperature ​
C)Number of children in a family
D)Driving speed

Question 9

The most widely used statistic of variability in measurement is the: ​

A)range.
B)semi-interquartile range.
C)standard deviation. ​
D)mean.

Question 10

What is the relationship between variance and standard deviation? ​

A)Variance is the square root of standard deviation.
B)Standard deviation is the square root of variance. ​
C)Variance is a type of standard deviation.
D)There is no relationship between variance and standard deviation.

Question 11

What is one drawback of using the range as a measure of variability? ​

A)It is more difficult to calculate than standard deviation.
B)It can only be meaningfully interpreted by expert clinicians.
C)It is only useful in research applications.
D)It can be significantly influenced by extreme scores.

Question 12

If Sally has a percentile score of 53, you would interpret this score saying that:

A)53 percent of the items were correctly answered.
B)Sally's performance equaled that of 53 percent of the group tested.
C)53 percent of the group tested had a score at or below Sally's.
D)53 percent of the group tested had a score at or above Sally's.

Question 13

If a test taker made a score of 40 on a 100-item test, what interpretation can we make of this score? ​

A)The score lies at the 40th percentile.
B)The test taker did poorly because he or she only got 40% of the items correct. ​
C)The test taker's performance was below the median of the test. ​
D)Nothing can be interpreted without additional information.

Question 14

Which of the following characteristics is NOT true of a nominal scale? ​

A)The intent of a nominal scale is to name an object.
B)It is the most basic of the measurement scales.
C)It is possible to determine the mean of nominally scaled variables. ​
D)It is only possible to calculate the percentage or frequency of items/individuals that fall within a certain category.

Question 15

In norm-referenced assessment, the word norm refers to: ​

A)the group of individuals who took the instrument, to which others' scores are later compared.
B)the group of individuals who received an average, or normal, score on the instrument. ​
C)the mean score on the instrument. ​
D)the standard deviation of the instrument. ​

Question 16

Approximately what percent of the norming group in a normal distribution falls between two standard deviations below the mean and two standard deviations above the mean? ​

A)13.98%
B)68%
C)95%
D)99.5%

Question 17

When scores in a distribution are averaged, the statistic is called the: ​

A)mean.
B)mode.
C)median.
D)standard deviation.

Question 18

What is the point on the scale that has an equal number of scores above and below it? ​

A)Median
B)Mean
C)Mode
D)Standard deviation

Question 19

In a distribution of scores, what do we call the score that occurs most frequently? ​

A)Mean
B)Mode
C)Median ​
D)Standard deviation

Question 20

Interval scales are characterized by: ​

A)rank order data.
B)the ability to determine ratios. ​
C)classification by group. ​
D)equal intervals.

Question 21

What causes so much of the confusion surrounding age- or grade-equivalent scores?  What are your recommendations for schools, parents, teachers, and counselors who must try to make meaning out of these data? ​

Question 22

If the sampling procedure used to draw the norming group used whole classrooms rather than selecting individuals, that procedure would be: ​

A)simple random sampling.
B)stratified sampling.
C)cluster sampling.
D)group sampling.

Question 23

What are all standard scores based on? ​

A)Percentiles
B)T -scores
C)Stanines
D)z -scores

Question 24

Highly technical assessment terminology can be difficult for clients to understand.  What can a counselor do to facilitate his/her clients' understanding of their test results?   Would you be able to explain to a client what percentile , stanine, percentile rank, and standard scores are in everyday language?  Explain. ​

Question 25

John is a second grade student who, on an achievement test, received a grade equivalent score of 4.5 (fourth grade-fifth month)on the reading comprehension subtest.  As a counselor, you would interpret this score as an indicator that John should be: ​

A)skipped to the fourth grade.
B)moved to a fourth grade classroom for his instruction in reading.
C)tested for the gifted program, since he is doing fourth grade work.
D)the score could not be interpreted without examining how the instrument was developed.

Question 26

Discuss the importance of evaluating the norming group of a norm-referenced test.  What things should a practitioner evaluate before deciding to use a norm-referenced test? ​

Question 27

Which of the following statements is most accurate concerning stanines? ​

A)Stanines are the best standard score to use because of the level of precision in determining the scores.
B)Stanines can be misunderstood because individuals do not understand that they represent a range of scores.
C)Stanine scores take into consideration the reliability of the instrument.
D)Stanines are an accurate measure of individuals' rankings using seven levels of competency.

Question 28

Think about the different types of assessments you have taken in your academic career, personal, or professional lives to date (e.g., personality tests, achievement tests, mastery tests, IQ tests, SAT/GRE, etc.).  What proportion of those were norm-referenced tests vs. criterion-referenced tests?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?  For yourself, which type do you prefer?  Does it depend on the topic or purpose of the assessment? ​

Question 29

What types of human characteristics or behaviors would you expect to approximate a normal curve in the population?  What are some human attributes that you predict would fall into a positively- or negatively-skewed distribution?  A multi-modal distribution?  A flat distribution? ​