Assessing Achievement and Aptitude: Applications for Counseling

1. Assessing Achievement and Aptitude: Applications for Counseling Chapter 8

2. Achievement vs. Aptitude • Achievement tests: what individual has learned /acquired • Aptitude tests: predict future performance /ability to learn new tasks • Contrast between achievement and aptitude tests is one of purpose more than of content

3. Assessment of Achievement Survey achievement batteries Individual achievement tests and diagnostic achievement tests Criterion-referenced tests and minimum-level skills assessments Subject area tests

4. Survey Achievement Tests Administered to thousands of students in multiple school districts throughout the nation Many subtests that measure achievement in certain academic areas (i.e., reading, math, language arts) Can provide information on strengths, limitations, and the students’ progress from year to year Often co-normed with tests of general ability or academic intelligence

5. Survey Achievement Tests (cont.) • Examples: • Iowa Tests • Metropolitan Achievement Tests, Eighth Edition • TerraNova, ThirdEdition • Current, well-known achievement battery • Modular series with multiple measures of achievement • Achievement batteries also available for adults (i.e., Test of Adult Basic Education)

6. Individual Achievement Tests andDiagnostic Achievement Tests • Often used in psychoeducationalevaluations (screening for learning disabilities, cognitivehandicaps, behavioral disorders, other academic issues) • Can also be used with adults • Commonly used achievement tests: • Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement – Second Edition (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004) • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – Third Edition(Wechsler, 2009) • Wide Range Achievement Test 4(Wilkinson & Robertson, 2007)

7. Individual Achievement Tests andDiagnostic Achievement Tests (cont.) • Identifyinglearning disabilities • In the past, discrepancy model was used to identifyspecific learning disabilities (SLD) • SLD identified when there was difference of two standard deviations between academic achievement and intellectual ability • Response to Intervention (RTI) model now replaces discrepancy model for identifying learning disabilities • Data used to identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes • Intervention provided to student at primary, secondary or tertiary level • Student progress monitored and intervention adjusted as needed

8. Criterion-Referenced Tests & Minimum-Level Skills Assessments • Criterion-referenced instruments: • Designed to determine if a certain academic standard is met • Becoming more common with increasing focus on standards and accountability in education • Criterion-referenced assessments in Indiana: ISTEP+, IMAST, ISTAR • Minimum-level skills tests: • Criterion-referenced tests where the minimum level is the “criterion” for passing • Great controversy over the institution of minimum competency examinations as prerequisite to earning high school diploma

9. Subject Area Tests • Single subject tests developed by teachers make up largest area of achievement tests • Vary in quality, content validity should be considered • Advocates of authentic assessment and performance assessment have had major influence on teacher-developed subject area tests

10. Issues in Achievement Testing • Increase in standardized achievement testing in all 50 states (“high stakes testing”) • No Child Left Behind(2001) • Focus on educational accountability, examining individual student progress • Blueprint for revising Elementary and Secondary Education Act released in March 2010, not yet reauthorized • National Assessment of Educational Progress (“the nation’s report card”) • AERA’s conditions for high-stakes achievement testing programs in education

11. Aptitude Assessment • Scholastic Aptitude Tests • Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) • American College Testing (ACT) • Graduate Record Examination (GRE) • Vocational/Career Aptitude Tests • Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Test Battery (ASVAB) • WorkKeys • Differential Aptitude Test (DAT)

12. Validity of Scholastic Aptitude Tests • Validity of SAT and ACT are about the same • Correlation with freshman GPA ranges from .30 to .50 • Best predictor of college success is combination of high school grades and all 3 SAT section scores • Best predictor of graduate school success is combination of GRE scores and undergraduate GPA

13. Vocational/Career Aptitude Tests • Used in career counseling to predict job or occupational performance • Some used for employment selection purposes • Effective selection of instruments requires that they accurately predict successful performance of job duties – difficult for many reasons: • Job duties within an occupation vary depending on organization and setting • What constitutes“successfully performing”? • Job performance can rarely be measured unidimensionally • Difficult to recruit large norming groups

14. Test Preparation and Performance Test sophistication – individual’s level of knowledge in test-taking skills Coaching– training or practice on questions that are the same or similar to items on test Education– domain or area is covered more broadly, with intent of helping test taker learn content or information

15. Test Sophistication Test scores improve when individuals retake alternate form of test Individuals with extensive experience taking standardized tests have advantage Some test publishers are trying to provide free test preparation materialsto create “more level playing field”

16. Coaching Research investigating effects of coaching on test results has mixed and inconsistent results Closer the resemblance between the coaching material and test content greater improvement in scores “Teaching to the test” approach General conclusions: coaching programs may increase scores slightly; significant changes occur only if programs are longer and content is closely aligned with test material