CPS Assessment & Evaluation Methods 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When comparing a student's performance across multiple WISC-V subtests, a psychologist uses the Reliable Change Index to determine whether score differences are meaningful. This analysis addresses which psychometric concern?
- Construct validity of individual subtests
- Statistical significance versus measurement error (Correct answer)
- Cultural bias in item selection
- Floor and ceiling effects
Correct answer: Statistical significance versus measurement error
The Reliable Change Index accounts for measurement error to determine whether score differences exceed chance variation.
Question 2: A CPS specialist interprets a student's score on a processing speed index as falling within the 'low average' range. Which standard score range typically defines 'low average'?
- 55–69
- 70–79
- 80–89 (Correct answer)
- 90–109
Correct answer: 80–89
Low average is conventionally defined as standard scores between 80 and 89 (roughly the 9th to 24th percentile).
Question 3: Which feature of portfolio assessment makes it particularly valuable in psycho-educational evaluations of English Language Learners?
- It relies exclusively on standardized scoring procedures
- It captures authentic work samples over time, reducing single-test language demands (Correct answer)
- It eliminates the need for interpreter involvement
- It provides age-equivalent scores comparable across languages
Correct answer: It captures authentic work samples over time, reducing single-test language demands
Portfolio assessment captures a student's actual work across contexts, providing performance evidence less influenced by a single-point language demand.
Question 4: The standard error of estimate (SEE) is most relevant when a practitioner is:
- Calculating a student's composite IQ score
- Using one test score to predict performance on another measure (Correct answer)
- Interpreting the internal consistency of a scale
- Comparing a student's performance to a local norm
Correct answer: Using one test score to predict performance on another measure
The SEE quantifies the expected error when using one score to predict a criterion score on a different measure.
Question 5: A psycho-educational report notes that a student's working memory and processing speed scores are significantly lower than their verbal comprehension score. The MOST appropriate term for this pattern is:
- Crystallized intelligence deficit
- Intraindividual (ipsative) variability (Correct answer)
- Criterion-referenced performance gap
- Norm-referenced outlier score
Correct answer: Intraindividual (ipsative) variability
Intraindividual variability refers to meaningful differences within a person's own score profile rather than comparisons to a norm group.
Question 6: Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) probes in reading are considered criterion-referenced because they:
- Compare students to national norms from a standardization sample
- Measure performance directly against the academic curriculum being taught (Correct answer)
- Use IQ-discrepancy formulas to identify learning disabilities
- Assess only summative achievement at the end of a unit
Correct answer: Measure performance directly against the academic curriculum being taught
CBM probes evaluate students' mastery of specific curricular material rather than comparing them to a norm group.
Question 7: Which term describes a test's ability to detect small but true changes in student performance over time?
- Concurrent validity
- Sensitivity to growth (Correct answer)
- Predictive reliability
- Discriminant specificity
Correct answer: Sensitivity to growth
Sensitivity to growth (also called instructional sensitivity) refers to a test's capacity to detect genuine academic gains across measurement occasions.
CPS Assessment & Evaluation Methods 3
When comparing a student's performance across multiple WISC-V subtests, a psychologist uses the Reliable Change Index to determine whether score differences are meaningful.
This analysis addresses which psychometric concern?