Norm-Referenced Tests and Norm-Referenced Tests and Test Scores:Test Scores:

What does it all mean?What does it all mean?

Steven M. Koch, Ph.D.Steven M. Koch, Ph.D.Riley Child Development CenterRiley Child Development Center

IU School of Medicine - Department of IU School of Medicine - Department of PediatricsPediatrics

Presentation Goals

• Recognize areas of assessment• Understand standardized test scores• Learn about the new SSA Test List• Identify resources on specific tests

• Why do we assess children?• How do we assess children?• Why do I need to know about the tests?• What do I need to know about the tests? • What are all those scores?

– And what do they mean?

• Where can I find information on tests?

Questions asked and answered today

Why do we assess children?

• Guide diagnosis• Determine eligibility

– SSI– Medicaid waiver– Special education

• Monitor progress• Determine treatment approach• Research

How do we assess children?

• Four Pillars of Assessment (Sattler, 2001)– Norm-referenced tests (standardized

tests)– Interviews– Observations– Informal assessment procedures

• Testing should be fair and culture-free

Norm-referenced tests

• Provide a degree of quantification of the child’s functioning in a given area– Describes the child’s present functioning

in reference to peer group– Identifies strengths and weaknesses in

area– Provides a baseline for later testing

Interviews

• Structured interviews• Semi-structured interviews• Free flowing interviews

Observations

• Systematic observations / data collection– Frequency counts– Incident logs

• Informal observations– Approach towards more difficult tasks – Generate hypotheses

Informal Assessment

• Non-standardized assessment approaches that test an examiner’s hypothesis

• Can further identify particular strengths and weaknesses

• Examples of informal assessment procedures– Reading passages– Play-based assessment

Fair testing

• Fair testing does not mean the same test is administered to all individuals.

• The tests selected for each child should address the questions asked, and the areas of concern.

• The impact of other skills on performanceshould be minimized

Why do I need to know Why do I need to know about all these tests?about all these tests?

Why do I need to know about tests?

• Provides an understanding of the tests which are a part of the claimant’s file

• Can provide guidance when requesting a CE– How can the CE obtain the needed

information to help with the eligibility determination?

– What instruments or areas of assessment would be most helpful as part of the CE?

In what areas do we In what areas do we assess children?assess children?

Areas assessed by norm-referenced instruments

• Intelligence / cognition• Social / emotional• Adaptive functioning• Speech• Oral language• Academic• Gross & fine motor • Early childhood / global development

Intelligence / Cognition

• Definitions (Sattler, 2001)– Higher-level components, which include

abstract reasoning, representation, problem solving, and decision making

– Overt behavioral manifestations represented by effective or successful responses

– Elementary processes, such as perception, sensation and attention

– Executive processes – Memory– Ability to learn

Intelligence / Cognition

• Assessment approaches– Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children: 4– Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale: 3– Wide Range Assessment of Memory and

Learning: 2– Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales: 5– Differential Abilities Scale– Bayley Scales of Infant Development: 3– Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test

Social / Emotional

• Definitions– Assessment of emotional status, impact

of mental disorders on functioning, and social interactions and relationships with others

– Often viewed as internalizing and externalizing behaviors.

Social / Emotional

• Internalizing – Anxiousness, depressed mood, somatic

complaints

• Externalizing– Hyperactivity, verbal aggression,

physical aggression

• Other areas– Social problems, inattention,

thought disturbance

Social / Emotional

• Assessment approaches– Mental Status Examination– Child Behavior Checklist– Behavior Assessment System for Children: 2– Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive

Function– Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale – Roberts Apperception Test for Children: 2– Children’s Depression Inventory– Functional Behavior Assessment

Adaptive Functioning

• Definitions– The effectiveness with which individuals

meet the standards of personal independence and social responsibility expected of individuals of their age and cultural group (Sattler, 2002).

– Multifactorial• Independent functioning, physical development,

economic activity, language development, numbers & time, (pre)vocational, self-direction,responsibility, socialization (AAMR)

Adaptive Functioning

• Assessment approaches– Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales: 2– Scales of Independent Behavior: Revised – Adaptive Behavior Assessment System:

2– Semi-structured interview

Speech

• Definitions– Involves the production of sounds which

form words

• Areas of speech disorders– Oral-Motor – Apraxia– Articulation– Stuttering / Dysfluency– Phonological disorder

Speech

• Assessment approaches– Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation: 2– Khan-Lewis Phonological Analysis: 2– Photo Articulation Test: 3– Stuttering Severity Inventory: 3

Oral Language

• The use of words and sentences to convey meaning to others. Oral language examines both the production of messages (expressive) and their receipt (receptive).

• Basic components– Semantics– Syntax– Morphology– Phonology– Pragmatics

Oral Language

• Assessment approaches– Preschool Language Scale: 4– Clinical Evaluation of Language

Fundamentals: 4– Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language

Scale: 3– Test of Language Development: 3– Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test: 3 – Rosetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale– Test of Pragmatic Language– Hawaii Early Learning Profile

Academic

• Definitions– The skills children learn through direct

intervention or instruction (Sattler, 2001)

– Commonly assessed skills include• Reading individual words• Reading comprehension• Mathematics• Spelling• Written expression

Academic

• Assessment approaches– Wechsler Individual Achievement Test: 2– Woodcock-Johnson Tests of

Achievement: 3– Kaufman Test of Educational

Achievement: 2– Woodcock Reading Mastery Test: 2– KeyMath: 2– Diagnostic Achievement Battery: 3

Gross & Fine Motor

• Definitions– Gross motor refers to tasks involving the

larger muscles of the body, such as the legs and trunk

– Fine motor refers to tasks involving the hands and wrists

– Visual-motor refers to the integration of visual and fine motor, such as handwriting

– Sensory integration refers to the ability toregulate sensory input (auditory, visual, tactile, kinesthetic)

Gross & Fine Motor

• Assessment approaches– Peabody Developmental Motor Scales: 2– Bruininks Oseretsky Test of Motor

Proficiency– Beery-Buktenica Test of Visual-Motor

Integration: 5– Gross Motor Function Test– The Sensory Profile

Early Childhood / Global

• Many instruments assessing youth in early childhood examine multiple areas of development, such as cognitive, speech, language, motor, school readiness, etc.

• Norm-referenced tests are not always appropriate for this age, and more curriculum-based approaches are utilized

Early Childhood / Global

• Assessment approaches– Bayley Scales of Infant Development: 3– Assessment, Evaluation & Programming

System– Kaufman Survey of Early Academic and

Language Skills– Bracken Basic Concept Scale: 2– Hawaii Early Learning Profile– Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment– Carolina Curriculum for Infants / Toddlers

What scores are provided What scores are provided by tests?by tests?

Types of scores

• Raw scores– Number of correct responses for a test– May be useful when measuring progress

• Standard and Scaled Scores– Normal distribution of raw scores

(established mean and standard deviation)

– IQ scores– T-Scores

Normal Distribution Curve

• Also called the bell curve (due to its shape), or the gaussian curve (after Carl Friederich Gauss)

Normal Distribution Curve

• Mean () – average score• Standard deviation () – spread of

scores

Normal Distribution Curve

Standard deviation

Population

Mean = 100

SD = 15

Normal Distribution Curve

Standard deviation

Population

Mean = 100

SD = 16

Normal Distribution Curve

Standard deviation

Population

Mean = 10

SD = 3

Normal Distribution Curve

Standard deviation

Population

Mean = 50

SD = 10

Types of scores

• Age / grade equivalents– Child’s raw score in relation to average

score for a given age– Often used with young children, and

individuals with developmental delays– Often interpreted incorrectly

Age Equivalent

1111000=

=4

1001001001000==4

Equal raw scores leads to the same age equivalent score. However, it does NOT mean the same items were correctly answered. The second child answered items that were at a higher developmentallevel.

Types of scores

• Percentiles– Different than percentages– Provides comparison to peer group– Perform equal to or better than X% of

children

Normal Distribution Curve

Standard deviation

Population

-1 SD = 16%ile

+1 SD = 84%ile

Normal Distribution Curve

Standard deviation

Population

-2 SD = 2%ile

+2 SD = 98%ile

When is a score significant?

• Generally, when a score is greater than 2 SD (either above or below the mean, the score is significantly different (e.g., an IQ of 70 or lower).

• The score can be significant if it is 2SD below OR 2SD above the mean (e.g., T-Scores on behavior checklists greater than 2SD above the mean generally indicate an area of concern.

Where can I find Where can I find information on tests?information on tests?

Where to get information

• Your medical consultants (e.g., psychologists, SLPs)

• Sattler, J.M. (2001). Assessment of Children: Cognitive Applications (4th Ed.). La Mesa, CA: Sattler Publisher.

• Sattler, J.M. (2002). Assessment of Children: Behavioral and Clinical Applications (4th Ed.). La Mesa, CA: Sattler Publisher.

• Buros Institute – Mental Measurements Yearbook– Tests in Print

• University libraries (e.g., IUPUI)• SSA Test List

SSA Test List

• Updated list of tests (earlier list developed ca. 1991)

• Recently placed on SSA’s intranet• Provides the following information:

– List of tests by area• Comprehensive, screening, subarea, special population

– Publisher, publication date– Description / Purpose– Standard administration time– Scores (names, types)– How information is obtained

• Is currently being updated

Where to get information

• Test Publishers– Achenbach System of Empirically Based

Assessment– American Guidance Service– Psychological Assessment Resources– Psychological Corporation– Riverside Publishing– Western Psychological Services

For more information….

Steven M. Koch, Ph.D., HSPPPsychologist, Interdisciplinary Training

DirectorRiley Child Development CenterIU School of Medicine – Dept. of PediatricsRiley Hospital for Children317.274.8167smkoch@iupui.edu