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| | Characteristics of High Quality Assessments With
Children
The process of identifying a high quality assessment can be difficult.
Below are several recommendations from various professionals and organizations
that may help.
- Developmentally appropriate, ecological,
comprehensive, skills-based, and family focused
- Conducted by a multidisciplinary team
- Linked to intervention strategies designed
for young children
- Based on comprehensive, educational and/or
behavioral concerns
- Nondiscriminatory in terms of gender,
ethnicity, native language, family composition, and/or socioeconomic
status
- Technically adequate and validated for the
purposes for which they are used
Source: NASP Position
Statement on Early Childhood Assessment, 1999
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Test directions should be
short, simple, and easily understood.
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Materials should be
colorful, stimulating, easily handled, interesting, and maximize
participation.
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The test should have
sample or teaching items to ensure the child completely understands the
task.
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All test materials and the
way the test was standardized should represent many ethnic and gender
groups, without stereotyping.
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The test should be make
allowances for administration in more than one session and take less
than an hour altogether.
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Each subtest (part of the
test) should measure the same skill throughout that subtest.
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Items with multiple
response options should offer many options - this will increase
reliability of the test.
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Preschool tests should
represent a known and well-researched theoretical orientation.
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The test should provide a
full range of descriptors of the child's performance, including standard
scores, percentile ranks, and age/grade equivalents.
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Test manuals should
include a section on interpretation and intervention recommendations
Adapted by: Caven
S. Mcloughlin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of School Psychology
Kent State University
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