RICA Prep Flashcards

1. Assessment is ongoing.
2. The assessment process uses multiple sources - formal & informal.
3. Assessment drives instruction.
4. Assessment is standards-based.

A test is reliable if its results yield consistent scores across administrations. If you were to take Form A on Monday and Form B on Tuesday, your scores should be almost identical.

A test is valid if it measures what it claims to measure.

A standardized test has an established, nonvarying procedure, strict instructions, and time limits.

Norm-referenced scores allow for comparison between the students taking the tests and a national average.

Norm-referenced scores that are reported in a percentage. An average score would be 50%. Someone with a percentile score of 15 has done poorly on the tests; he or she achieved a higher score than only 15% of the sampling group.

Norm-referenced scores, depending upon the performance of the children in the sampling group, a student could be rated 6.3 (or his performance corresponds with that of a sixth grader in the third month of school).

"Standard Nine"
Norm-referenced scores. Raw scores are converted to a nine-point scale with 5 being average, 1 at the bottom, and 9 at the top.

California Department of Education's Standardized Testing and Reporting System.

California Standards Test
(all students)

California Achievement Tests, Sixth Edition
(all students)

California Alternative Performance Assessment
(for students with significant disabilities)

Spanish Assessment of Basic Education, Second Edition
(for school districts that would like Spanish-speaking students to take a Spanish-language achievement test)

Informal Reading Inventory

1. Word Recognition Lists or Graded Word Tests
2. Graded Reading Passages or Running Records
3. Reading Interest Survey
4. Tests Measuring Concepts about Print
5. Phonemic Awareness Tests
6. Phonics Tests
7. Structural Analysis Tests
8. Content Reading CLOZE Test
9. Vocabulary Tests
10. Spelling Tests