Week 7&8

Over these two weeks we learned about tracking and reading scores from student assessments.

Some important standardized assessment terms we learned are,

Population-the entire group of people for whom typical performance is estimated by the instrument

Sample-the group of people actually included in the testing/study

Norming-refers to the process of constructing norms or the typical performance of a group of individuals on achievement assessment

Norm referenced Tests-test results compared to the results of a similar group of people and testers are ranked in relation to other testers

Criterion referenced Tests-test results are compared to a set standard or predetermined criteria and testers are ranked in relation to the body of tested knowledge

Mean-averaging (add them then divide by how many are on the list)

Median-MIDDLE number 

Mode-refers to the number in a list that occurs most often

Range-the difference between smallest and largest number

Normal Curve-bell shaped curve representing the usual distribution of human attributes

Standard Deviation-the distance scores depart from the mean (low standard deviation means most scores are close to the average)

Z Score-standard scores with a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1

T Score-standard scores with a mean of 50 and standard deviations of 10

Something that stuck out to me was to keep in mind that we want to be giving assessments that are valid and reliable.  This means we as teachers are ensuring our assessments will provide us with consistent results and are testing for what we need to be testing.

Overall I learned in week eight how to use an excel sheet to plot and read test scores.  

It may not seem important but viewing and reading these scores helps teachers in the long run determine what areas of study their students may be struggling in or can even view more specific areas in which some students may be struggling with.