RSCH 6109: Assessment & Evaluation Methods

More Overview

Ethical Considerations

Historical Trends in AssessmentRelated Reading: Clarke, M., et.al. (2000). Retrospective on

Educational Testing & Assessment in the 20th Century.

Historical Figures in Assessment

What do tests measure?

Affective Domains

Cognitive Domains

Behavioral Domains

Attitudinal Domains

Overview of Testing Concepts

Affective Domains

personality

temperament

motivational factors

emotional states

MMPI, BDI

Overview of Testing Concepts

Cognitive Domains

achievement

aptitude

intelligence

specific cognitive abilities

SAT, WJ, WRAT

Overview of Testing Concepts

Behavioral Domains

observable actions

social behaviors

work behavior

specific skills

SSRS, CBCL

Overview of Testing Concepts

Attitudinal Domains

type of cognitive measurement

self report of perceptions / opinions / attitudes / values

similar to what many surveys do, but more developed

Career measures, job satisfaction measures

Overview of Testing Concepts

What makes a test “standardized”?

Rigorous development process

Standards for administration

Objective scoring procedures

Norms for interpretation

Guidelines for proper use

Overview of Testing Concepts

Counselors can access the technical properties of standardized tests.

What are “acceptable measurement properties”?

Reliability

Validity

Cultural sensitivity

Overview of Testing Concepts

Ethical Testing Practices

1920s Giles Ruch wrote the Minimum Essentials for Reporting Data on Standard Tests

1930s Oscar Buros directed the Buros Institute for Mental Measurements

1954 APA published Technical Recommendations for Psychological Test and Diagnostic Techniques

1955 Technical Recommendations for Achievement Tests published by the National Education Association

1966 Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests and Manuals was a joint publication by the AERA, NCME,

and APA. Standards revised in 1974, 1985, and 1999.

There is urgent need for a fact-finding organization which will undertake impartial, experimental, and statistical evaluations of tests – validity, reliability, legitimate uses, accuracy of norms, and the like. This might lead to the listing of satisfactory tests in the various subject matter divisions in much the same way that Consumer’s research, Inc. is attempting to furnish reliable information to the average buyer. -Ruch 1925

Ethical Testing Practices

Confidentiality

Do no harm

Proper Use

Ethical Testing Practices

Do no harm

Respect the client

Build rapport

Understand the client’s goals / needs

Explain the results appropriately

Rights of test takers (pp. 32-33)

Ethical Testing Practices

Rights of test takers (pp. 32-33)

Inform the test taker:

purpose of testing

who has access to scores

how scores will be used

consequences of not taking tests

Ethical Testing Practices

Proper Use

selection of appropriate tests

follow standards for administration, scoring, and interpretation

proper cautions in decision making

follow the ethical guidelines

user qualification issues

Ethical Testing Practices

User qualification standards

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First known standardized test: 2200 B.C. Chinese Civil Service Examination System 3 year, oral, certification examination in Music, Archery, Horsemanship, Writing, Math, Public & Private Rights & Ceremonies

No formal study or scientific investigation of individual differences took place until the 19th century when experimental psychologists (Wundt, Ebbinghaus, and others) demonstrated that psychological phenomenon could be described in quantitative and rational terms.

Not until the 20th century did the field of testing become more scientific and rigorous.

Historical Trends in Testing

Historical Trends in Testing

First Test of Personality: Robert Woodworth’s Personal Data Sheet Woodworth Psychoneurotic Inventory

During WWI, government committee on Emotional Fitness developed a quick, group administered, measure of adjustment and emotional stability

Yes/No questions regarding existence of various psychopathologies

“Are you troubled with the idea that people are watching you on the street?”

Historical Trends in Testing

First Intelligence Test Published: 1905 Binet- Simon Intelligence Scale

Commissioned by the Minister of Public Instruction in Paris to develop a procedure for identifying children who were seemingly unable to benefit sufficiently from instruction in regular classrooms.

30-item, individually administered, written test of ability to judge, understand, and reason.

1908: Revision included subtests grouped by age levels. First introduction of the concept of “mental age.”

1911: Final revision extended the test to the adult level.

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Historical Figures in Testing1. Charles Spearman (Test Theory)

2. Frederick Kelly (Achievement Testing)

3. Edward Thorndike (Achievement Testing)

4. Lewis Terman (Intelligence Testing)

5. James McKeen Cattell (Intelligence Testing)

6. E.F. Lindquist (Achievement Testing)

7. Hermann Rorschach (Personality Testing)

8. E.K. Strong, Jr. (Interest Measurement)

9. Arthur Otis (Intelligence Testing)

10. O.K. Buros (Mental Measurement)

11. Benjamin Bloom (Achievement Testing)

12. David Wechsler (Intelligence)

13. Starke Hathaway (Personality Testing)

14. Howard Gardner (Intelligence Testing)

15. Robert Sternberg (Intelligence Testing)

Charles Spearman

Edward Thorndike

Lewis Madison Terman

James McKeen Cattell

Hermann Rorschach

Oscar Buros

David Wechsler

Starke Rosecrans Hathaway

Howard Gardner

Robert Sternberg

Anne Anastasi

Florence Goodenough

Ana Felicia Munoz-Sandoval