Question 1

In which of the following situations would criterion-referenced scores always be more appropriate than norm-referenced scores?
A)To choose students for a program for gifted and talented youth
B)To select students for a highly selective and prestigious university
C)To pretest students' knowledge so that you know where to begin instruction
D)To place students in reading groups based on relative ability

Accepted Answer

Criterion-referenced scores are used to measure a student's mastery of a specific set of skills or knowledge, independent of the performance of other students. In this case, pretesting students' knowledge to understand where to begin instruction is a situation where it is more appropriate to use criterion-referenced scores rather than norm-referenced scores. The other options involve comparing the performance of students to other students and are therefore situations where norm-referenced scores would be more appropriate.

Question 2

Three of the following accurately describe how student diversity is likely to affect our ability to assess students' learning fairly and validly.Which statement is not accurate?
A)Boys put forth more effort on assigned tasks than girls do.
B)Students from some cultures prefer to work in groups rather than alone.
C)Students from some cultures are reluctant to perform in public until they have completely mastered a skill.
D)Some students may think that classroom assessment tasks are irrelevant to their lives outside of school.

Accepted Answer

The statement "Boys put forth more effort on assigned tasks than girls do" is not accurate as it makes a generalization based on gender that is not supported by research. Gender does not determine effort put forth on assigned tasks. In contrast, statements B, C, and D are accurate as they acknowledge the impact of cultural and personal factors on how students approach and perceive classroom assessments. This diversity needs to be considered and accommodated for fair and valid assessment practices.

Question 3

Todd takes an achievement test that yields standard scores.The mean of the test scores is 200, and the standard deviation is 50.If Todd does better than 84% of the students in his age-group who take the test, his standard score is:
A)150
B)200
C)250
D)300

Accepted Answer

To find Todd's standard score, we need to use the inverse normal distribution table.

- We know that Todd does better than 84% of the students, so the area to the left of his score on the standard normal distribution is 0.84. 
- We can use the inverse normal distribution table to find the z-score that corresponds to an area of 0.84: z = 1.04. 
- Now we can use the formula to convert z-score to a standard score:

Standard score = (z-score x standard deviation) + mean
Standard score = (1.04 x 50) + 200
Standard score = 250

Therefore, the answer is C.

Question 4

Whenever we modify an assessment to accommodate a student's special needs, we must remember that we are inevitably reducing:
A)validity
B)reliability
C)practicality
D)standardization

Accepted Answer

When we modify an assessment to accommodate a student's special needs, we are altering the standard conditions under which the assessment was originally designed to be administered. This inevitably reduces the standardization of the assessment, as it is no longer being administered in a uniform or consistent manner across all test-takers.

Question 5

In Ms.Chapman's math class, students who take a classroom assessment receive scores of either "Mastered" or "Not mastered" in four different areas: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.What type of scores is Ms.Chapman using?
A)Raw scores
B)Stanine scores
C)Norm-referenced scores
D)Criterion-referenced scores

Accepted Answer

Ms. Chapman is using criterion-referenced scores, which measure a student's performance against a set standard or criteria. The standard in this case is mastery vs. non-mastery in each math area.

Question 6

Which one of the following most accurately characterizes IQ scores?
A)The average score is 100, with equal numbers of people getting every score between 70 and 130.
B)The average score is 100, with more people getting scores near 100 and fewer people getting scores farther away.
C)If you divide the IQ score by 2, you get a person's percentile rank on the intelligence test.
D)In the range of scores between 90 and 110, more people get a score of 110 than any other score within the range.

Accepted Answer

IQ scores are standardized, with an average score of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. This means that the majority of people will score within one standard deviation of the mean (85-115). Therefore, there will be more people scoring near 100 and fewer people scoring farther away from it. Options A and D are incorrect as IQ scores do not have an equal distribution of scores within a specific range, and option C is inaccurate as dividing an IQ score by 2 does not give the percentile rank on the intelligence test.

Question 7

Ms.Beloit wants to describe her students' performance on a classroom achievement test in a way that her students can understand, so she scores it in terms of the percentage of correct items.Which type of score is Ms.Beloit using?
A)A norm-referenced score
B)A percentile rank
C)A true score
D)A raw score

Accepted Answer

Ms. Beloit is using a raw score, which is a score that represents the actual number of correct items on a test without any adjustments or conversions. Raw scores are often reported as a percentage of correct items, as Ms. Beloit is doing, to provide a clear and easy-to-understand representation of performance for students.

Question 8

When we represent students' test performance in terms of standard scores, we must first know the standard deviation of those scores.This statistic tells us:
A)What the average student's performance was
B)How close together or far apart the scores are
C)Whether the test has high predictive validity
D)Whether the test has high reliability

Accepted Answer

Standard deviation tells us how spread out the scores are from the average, which is represented by the mean. Therefore, it shows us how close together or far apart the scores are. It does not indicate the average student's performance, the test's predictive validity, or reliability.

Question 9

Which one of the following teachers is definitely scoring students' performance in a norm-referenced manner?
A)Mr.Wyman grades students' essays on the causes of the American Revolution, giving the five best essays an A, the next five best a B, and so on.
B)Mr.Burgess asks his physical education students to do as many chin-ups and push- ups as they can, and he records the number that each student can do.
C)Mr.Carr has his second graders take a quiz on addition number facts over and over again until they can answer all 100 facts correctly within three minutes' time.
D)Mr.Morehead asks his fifth graders to spell the 20 words in this week's spelling assignment, and he counts the number of words each student spells correctly.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which one of the following teachers is...

Question 10

Approximately how many students will typically get scores within one standard deviation of the mean either above or below the mean)on a standardized achievement test?
A)About two-thirds of them
B)About one-third of them
C)About 20% of them
D)About half of them

Accepted Answer

By definition, one standard deviation above and below the mean covers about 68% of the distribution. Therefore, approximately two-thirds of students will get scores within one standard deviation of the mean.

Question 11

Why are standard scores often preferred to percentile ranks?
A)Because they are a more accurate reflection of differences among students
B)Because they always have a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15
C)Because they give us a better idea of what students do and do not know
D)Because they are usually easier for parents to understand

Accepted Answer

Standard scores are preferred because they provide a more accurate reflection of differences among students. Percentile ranks only show a student's relative position compared to others and do not provide information about the actual score. Standard scores, on the other hand, convert raw scores to a common metric and provide information about the distance between a student's score and the mean of the population.

Question 12

Which one of the following is something you should consider when you decide whether to use criterion-referenced scores or norm-referenced scores to summarize how well your students have performed on a classroom assessment?
A)Criterion-referenced scores are more useful when you need to compare your students to one another.
B)Criterion-referenced scores are more useful when you need to compare your students' performance to the typical performance of students nationwide.
C)Norm-referenced scores are more useful when you want to assess students' mastery of your instructional objectives.
D)Norm-referenced scores may be helpful when you need to assess a complex skill that is difficult to define in terms of mastery.

Accepted Answer

Norm-referenced scores are beneficial for assessing complex skills that are hard to define in terms of mastery, as they compare a student's performance against a larger group, which can provide a broader context for understanding the skill level. Criterion-referenced scores, on the other hand, are designed to measure whether a student has achieved specific learning objectives, making them less suitable for evaluating complex, hard-to-define skills.

Question 13

Which one of the following test scores is farthest from the mean?
A)A z-score of 3
B)An SAT score of 600
C)A stanine of 7
D)An IQ score of 120

Accepted Answer

A z-score of 3 is the farthest from the mean as it represents a score that is three standard deviations above the mean, while the other scores are all within one or two standard deviations of the mean.

Question 14

As a third-grade teacher, you receive the standardized test scores for Mary and learn that she has gotten a stanine of 1 on the spelling subtest and a stanine of 3 on the math subtest.You should conclude that Mary:
A)Had below-average performance on the spelling subtest, but above-average performance on the math subtest
B)Performed below grade level on the spelling subtest, but at grade level on the math subtest
C)Performed below the average for her peer group on both subtests
D)Performed above the average for her peer group on both subtests

Accepted Answer

Stanine scores range from 1 to 9, with scores from 1 to 3 considered below average, 4 to 6 as average, and 7 to 9 as above average. Therefore, a stanine of 1 on the spelling subtest and a stanine of 3 on the math subtest both indicate below-average performance.

Question 15

What is the major drawback of using percentile ranks to describe students' performance on a standardized test?
A)Percentiles prevent comparisons between students' own performance and that of classmates-comparisons that standard scores allow.
B)Percentiles tend to underestimate how much students have actually learned.
C)Because most students get fairly low scores, they become easily discouraged and their self-efficacy decreases.
D)Students in the middle range can be quite similar in achievement and yet have scores that are somewhat dissimilar.

Accepted Answer

Percentile ranks can make students with similar achievement levels appear to have more significant differences in their scores because of how percentiles are distributed, especially in the middle range where small differences in raw scores can result in relatively larger differences in percentile ranks.

Question 16

David takes an intelligence test and gets an IQ score of 85.What is David's approximate percentile rank on this test?
A)5th percentile
B)16th percentile
C)34th percentile
D)65th percentile

Accepted Answer

An IQ score of 85 is below average (100 is the average score) and falls in the range of 16th percentile. This means that David performed better than only about 16% of people who took the same test.

Question 17

Which one of the following statements best describes how a standard score is derived?
A)By identifying the grade level to which the student's test performance is most similar
B)By counting the total number of points the student has earned on all test items
C)By determining how far from average the student's raw score is in terms of standard deviation units
D)By finding out how many students at the same age or grade level obtained lower scores

Accepted Answer

A standard score is derived by converting a raw score (the score a student earns on a test) into a score that is standardized, meaning it allows for comparison across different tests and populations. Standard scores are typically expressed in terms of standard deviation units from the mean. This makes it possible to compare scores on different tests or within different groups, even when the mean and standard deviation of the scores are different. Therefore, option C is the correct answer as it states that the standard score is derived by determining how far from average the student's raw score is in terms of standard deviation units.

Question 18

When we say that an assessment instrument has norms, we mean that it:
A)Can be interpreted with reference to others who have taken the assessment
B)Has a manual that provides information about reliability and validity
C)Has cutoffs regarding what is acceptable performance
D)Has a distribution of test scores that fit a bell curve

Accepted Answer

Norms refer to the comparison of an individual's test scores to the scores of a larger group of people who have taken the same assessment. This allows for interpretation of a person's performance in relation to others who have also taken the test.

Question 19

Greg took the district-wide achievement test and got a stanine score of 9.Which one of the following is closest to Greg's percentile rank?
A)14
B)16
C)84
D)98

Accepted Answer

A stanine score of 9 corresponds to a percentile rank of 96-99, so the closest choice is 98.

Question 20

You are looking at the information an item analysis provides about a quiz you gave this morning.Most of the test items have D values of between .20 and .50.However, question #12 has a D value of -.60.You should conclude that the item:
A)Is measuring rote memorization rather than meaningful learning
B)Was more difficult for students than the other items were
C)Was easier for students than the other items were
D)Was poorly written or incorrectly scored

Accepted Answer

A D value (item discrimination index) of -.60 suggests that lower-scoring students were more likely to answer the item correctly than higher-scoring students, indicating the item may be poorly written or incorrectly scored.

Quiz 14: Classroom Assessment Strategies

In which of the following situations would criterion-referenced scores always be more appropriate than norm-referenced scores?

Three of the following accurately describe how student diversity is likely to affect our ability to assess students' learning fairly and validly.Which statement is not accurate?

Todd takes an achievement test that yields standard scores.The mean of the test scores is 200, and the standard deviation is 50.If Todd does better than 84% of the students in his age-group who take the test, his standard score is:

Whenever we modify an assessment to accommodate a student's special needs, we must remember that we are inevitably reducing:

In Ms.Chapman's math class, students who take a classroom assessment receive scores of either "Mastered" or "Not mastered" in four different areas: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.What type of scores is Ms.Chapman using?

Which one of the following most accurately characterizes IQ scores?

Ms.Beloit wants to describe her students' performance on a classroom achievement test in a way that her students can understand, so she scores it in terms of the percentage of correct items.Which type of score is Ms.Beloit using?

When we represent students' test performance in terms of standard scores, we must first know the standard deviation of those scores.This statistic tells us:

Which one of the following teachers is definitely scoring students' performance in a norm-referenced manner?

Approximately how many students will typically get scores within one standard deviation of the mean either above or below the mean) on a standardized achievement test?

Why are standard scores often preferred to percentile ranks?

Which one of the following is something you should consider when you decide whether to use criterion-referenced scores or norm-referenced scores to summarize how well your students have performed on a classroom assessment?

Which one of the following test scores is farthest from the mean?

As a third-grade teacher, you receive the standardized test scores for Mary and learn that she has gotten a stanine of 1 on the spelling subtest and a stanine of 3 on the math subtest.You should conclude that Mary:

What is the major drawback of using percentile ranks to describe students' performance on a standardized test?

David takes an intelligence test and gets an IQ score of 85.What is David's approximate percentile rank on this test?

Which one of the following statements best describes how a standard score is derived?

When we say that an assessment instrument has norms, we mean that it:

Greg took the district-wide achievement test and got a stanine score of 9.Which one of the following is closest to Greg's percentile rank?

You are looking at the information an item analysis provides about a quiz you gave this morning.Most of the test items have D values of between .20 and .50.However, question #12 has a D value of -.60.You should conclude that the item: