CEOE Assessment of Professional Knowledge 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A teacher wants to measure student growth over the course of a unit rather than just final performance. Which assessment approach best serves this purpose?
- Summative assessment administered at the end of the unit
- Norm-referenced testing comparing students to peers
- Portfolio assessment collecting work samples throughout the unit (Correct answer)
- A single diagnostic pretest given before instruction
Correct answer: Portfolio assessment collecting work samples throughout the unit
Portfolio assessment captures ongoing student work, allowing teachers to document growth across the entire unit.
Question 2: When interpreting a student's score on a norm-referenced test, a percentile rank of 72 means the student:
- Answered 72% of items correctly
- Scored higher than 72% of the norm group (Correct answer)
- Is performing 72 points above the mean
- Needs remediation in 72% of tested standards
Correct answer: Scored higher than 72% of the norm group
A percentile rank of 72 indicates the student outperformed 72% of students in the norm group.
Question 3: Which practice best ensures that an assessment is aligned with instructional objectives?
- Using the same test items across all grade levels
- Creating a table of specifications that maps items to objectives (Correct answer)
- Selecting items from a published test bank without modification
- Administering the assessment before instruction begins
Correct answer: Creating a table of specifications that maps items to objectives
A table of specifications ensures test items are proportionally aligned with each instructional objective.
Question 4: A student consistently scores well on multiple-choice tests but struggles with open-ended tasks on the same content. The teacher should:
- Rely solely on multiple-choice data since it is more reliable
- Use multiple assessment formats to gain a complete picture of student learning (Correct answer)
- Conclude the student has a test-taking disability
- Eliminate open-ended tasks from the curriculum
Correct answer: Use multiple assessment formats to gain a complete picture of student learning
Using multiple assessment formats provides a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of student mastery.
Question 5: Which type of feedback is most effective for promoting student learning during formative assessment?
- Grades and scores only
- Specific, descriptive comments focused on the learning goal (Correct answer)
- Comparisons to other students' performance
- Praise for effort regardless of accuracy
Correct answer: Specific, descriptive comments focused on the learning goal
Specific, descriptive feedback tied to learning goals gives students actionable information to improve.
Question 6: An IEP specifies that a student should receive extended time on assessments. A teacher who does not provide this accommodation is:
- Maintaining standardized testing conditions appropriately
- Violating the student's legal rights under IDEA (Correct answer)
- Following best practices for fair assessment
- Ensuring the assessment remains valid for all students
Correct answer: Violating the student's legal rights under IDEA
IDEA legally requires educators to implement all accommodations specified in a student's IEP.
Question 7: What does it mean when an assessment has high reliability but low validity?
- The assessment consistently measures something, but not the intended construct (Correct answer)
- The assessment measures the right skills but produces inconsistent scores
- The assessment is both accurate and appropriate for the intended purpose
- The assessment contains too few items to draw conclusions
Correct answer: The assessment consistently measures something, but not the intended construct
High reliability means consistent results; low validity means the assessment is not measuring what it is intended to measure.
CEOE Assessment of Professional Knowledge 2
A teacher wants to measure student growth over the course of a unit rather than just final performance.
Which assessment approach best serves this purpose?