Achievement Test Standardized Achievement Literacy 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A school administers the same standardized achievement test to all fourth graders in the fall and spring. The primary purpose is to measure:
- Inter-rater reliability
- Student growth over an academic year (Correct answer)
- Norm group performance
- Construct validity
Correct answer: Student growth over an academic year
Administering the same test at two points in time allows educators to measure how much students have learned over the interval.
Question 2: Which of the following BEST describes 'accommodation' in standardized testing?
- Changing the content or construct being measured
- Modifying test conditions to allow equal access for students with disabilities (Correct answer)
- Reducing the number of items for struggling students
- Translating the test into another language without review
Correct answer: Modifying test conditions to allow equal access for students with disabilities
Accommodations (e.g., extended time, large print) change the testing conditions but are intended to preserve the construct being measured.
Question 3: A norm group for a standardized achievement test should ideally be:
- Students who scored highest on a previous version
- A representative sample of the population for whom the test is intended (Correct answer)
- Only students in the same school district
- Students who have received special test preparation
Correct answer: A representative sample of the population for whom the test is intended
A representative norm group ensures that comparisons are meaningful and reflect the broader population's performance.
Question 4: A test developer reports that two different versions of a math achievement test produce highly similar scores for the same students. This is evidence of:
- Content validity
- Alternate-form reliability (Correct answer)
- Predictive validity
- Internal consistency
Correct answer: Alternate-form reliability
Alternate-form (or parallel-form) reliability measures consistency between two versions of the same test.
Question 5: Which score scale has a mean of 500 and a standard deviation of 100 and is commonly used by SAT-style achievement tests?
- T-score scale
- College Board scale (Correct answer)
- IQ scale
- Stanine scale
Correct answer: College Board scale
The College Board scale (mean=500, SD=100) is used by SAT and related assessments to express student performance.
Question 6: A student's achievement test score places her in the 'Basic' performance level rather than 'Proficient.' These labels are examples of:
- Norm-referenced interpretations
- Performance standards or cut scores (Correct answer)
- Grade equivalent scores
- Raw score conversions
Correct answer: Performance standards or cut scores
Performance levels (Basic, Proficient, Advanced) are defined by cut scores set by panels of educators based on policy standards.
Question 7: Which of the following MOST threatens the validity of an achievement test score?
- A large and diverse norm sample
- Students receiving coaching on specific test questions beforehand (Correct answer)
- Extended testing time as an accommodation
- Using multiple choice and constructed response items
Correct answer: Students receiving coaching on specific test questions beforehand
Exposure to actual test questions inflates scores artificially, so the score no longer accurately represents true achievement.
Achievement Test Standardized Achievement Literacy 4
A school administers the same standardized achievement test to all fourth graders in the fall and spring.
The primary purpose is to measure: