GLA Assessment and Evaluation Methods 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A score that represents the middle value when all scores are arranged from lowest to highest is called the:
- Mean
- Mode
- Median (Correct answer)
- Range
Correct answer: Median
The median is the middle value in an ordered data set, splitting the distribution in half.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes criterion-referenced assessment?
- Compares a student's score to the scores of other students
- Measures student performance against a fixed set of standards (Correct answer)
- Ranks students from highest to lowest performer
- Predicts future academic success based on current scores
Correct answer: Measures student performance against a fixed set of standards
Criterion-referenced assessments measure whether students have mastered specific learning objectives, not how they compare to peers.
Question 3: A teacher notices that one test question was answered correctly by almost every student who scored poorly but incorrectly by most high scorers. This suggests the question has:
- High difficulty
- Low reliability
- Poor item discrimination (Correct answer)
- Negative validity
Correct answer: Poor item discrimination
Poor item discrimination means the question fails to distinguish between high and low performers as expected.
Question 4: Accommodations provided to students with disabilities during standardized testing are intended to:
- Lower the difficulty level of the test
- Give those students an unfair advantage
- Remove barriers so the test measures the intended skill (Correct answer)
- Eliminate the need for students to demonstrate proficiency
Correct answer: Remove barriers so the test measures the intended skill
Accommodations (e.g., extended time, large print) remove irrelevant barriers without changing what the test measures.
Question 5: Which of the following is a primary purpose of a diagnostic pre-assessment?
- Assigning final course grades
- Ranking students for advanced placement
- Identifying gaps in prior knowledge before instruction (Correct answer)
- Evaluating the effectiveness of a completed unit
Correct answer: Identifying gaps in prior knowledge before instruction
Diagnostic assessments are given before instruction to uncover what students already know and what gaps need to be addressed.
Question 6: An analytic rubric differs from a holistic rubric in that it:
- Assigns a single overall score to student work
- Scores each dimension of performance separately (Correct answer)
- Is used only for creative writing tasks
- Cannot be shared with students in advance
Correct answer: Scores each dimension of performance separately
Analytic rubrics break performance into distinct categories, each scored independently for detailed feedback.
Question 7: A validity threat occurs when a reading comprehension test requires complex mathematical reasoning to answer the questions. This is because:
- The test is too long for the time allotted
- The math content makes the test unreliable
- The test measures skills beyond the intended reading construct (Correct answer)
- Students with math anxiety score higher than average
Correct answer: The test measures skills beyond the intended reading construct
Construct validity is threatened when a test inadvertently measures skills other than what it was designed to assess.
GLA Assessment and Evaluation Methods 3
A score that represents the middle value when all scores are arranged from lowest to highest is called the: