This study investigates the utility of existing measures of Oral Reading Fluency (ORF), reading retell, and language proficiency for predicting reading achievement among Spanish speaking English language learners in the United States.Consistent with previous findings, ORF predicts a large proportion of the variance in reading achievement.Additionally, retell and language proficiency are significant predictors above and beyond ORF.These findings support the potential utility of using existing measures for monitoring the reading progress of students who are second language learners within a district.Implications for policymakers are discussed.
This study examined current academic achievement test use and assessment practices in the United States. Special education administrators from 725 US school districts were surveyed using an online platform to determine current trends in the use of norm-referenced academic achievement tests (NRTs) and curriculum-based measures (CBMs). Administrators reported that school psychologists most commonly administered the NRTs used to help determine special education eligibility, although special education teachers also fill this role frequently, particularly in Western states. General and special educators are the most likely staff to administer CBMs. A detailed accounting of academic achievement assessment practices is discussed including which tests are used and the differences in assessment roles by region and district locale. Implications of these findings for the training of educators and for research are considered.
The present study reports on the replication of the core syndrome factor structure of the Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents (ASCA) for a sample of 229 Native American Indian (Yavapai Apache) children and adolescents from rural north-central Arizona. The six ASCA core syndromes produced the identical two-factor solution as the standardization sample, an independent sample, and a sample of Native American Indians (Ojibwe) from north-central Minnesota. Principal-axis analysis using multiple criteria for the number of factors to extract and retain was used with varimax, direct oblimin, and promax rotations producing identical results and nearly identical factor structure coefficients. As with earlier studies, it was concluded that the ASCA measures two independent global dimensions of youth psychopathology (Overactivity and Underactivity) that are similar to the conduct problems/externalizing and withdrawal/internalizing dimensions commonly found in the child psychopathology assessment literature.
Locally developed performance-based assessment instruments must provide evidence of validity and reliability supporting their intended interpretation and use. Accrediting bodies, such as the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), require Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs) to provide this evidence in their accreditation self-study. However, faculty may not have the expertise to conduct an effective examination of their assessments. This chapter describes a process for gathering evidence to build a validity argument for locally developed performance-based assessments. Grounded in measurement theory, the Validity Inquiry Process (VIP) guides faculty through a reflective practice approach towards making defensible claims about the use of results from locally developed performance-based assessments. Using this process, faculty can have greater confidence in using their performance-based assessments to provide feedback to their students, as well as offer assurances of program quality or to identify areas for improvement.
