Test Selection Criteria

From LiteracyTentWiki

What you need to know:

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Below are some guiding questions intended to help you make informed choices when selecting assessments. To acquire information about a particular assessment, contact the publisher. Test developers are required to provide technical and nontechnical information about their tests, and they produce Teachers' or Test Administrators' Guides and Norms Books that go along with each test for this purpose.

For information on commerical test publishers and their tests, see the section entitled: Test Specifics on the Main Page.

  • Purpose: What are you selecting a test for? Initial placement? Determine level of proficiency? Determine progress? Certify skills? Entrance into program? Teacher/program evaluation? Funding requirements? What kind(s) of learning does the assessment measure (which may be different from what it purports to measure in its marketing materials; if you are unsure, you should check with a program or practitioner who is familiar with the assessment)


  • Approach: What is the test’s approach: is it structural? norm-referenced? criterion-referenced? competency-based? standards-based? How does the test’s approach fit with your needs/purpose? Is the assessment a good fit -- by using it are you likely to find out what you want to know about what the student knows and is able to do?


  • Target Population: Who are the students your program serves? ESOL? ABE? GED? Workplace? Who was the test normed on? (Developed for?) Does your target population fit the population that the test was normed on?


  • Administration: Are there administration/training requirements for purchase? What level of personnel is needed to administer the test? Is the test group-administered, or individually-administered, and what are the implications of each for your purposes?


  • Purchase: Is the cost of the test prohibitive?


  • Test length/constraints: How long does the test take to complete? Is it a timed test, and is that appropriate for the target population?
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