There are many types of tests speech language pathologists (SLPs) use for diagnosing and assessing clients. Case history, informal and formal assessments, and conversation samples are some examples of the numerous factors that are critical when diagnosing a client as impaired, delayed, or typical. Norm-referenced standardized tests are one of the more reliable measures of assessment because the results are objective and can determine whether a client is performing within normal limits. Many conclusions can be made from the scores on standardized tests, one of them is age-equivalent scores. Age equivalent scores signify the mean or median score as a result of a normative sample for a certain age group. In general, age-equivalent scores are used …show more content…
For example, two children of different ages could have the same age-equivalent score but it would be incorrect to say that both children performed at the same level. The way each child determined their answers on the test could be extremely different. All an age-equivalent score would do, is prove that both children answered the same amount of questions correctly.
One of the most prominent limitations of age-equivalent scores are the way they are calculated. Age-equivalent scores are essentially estimated or predicted by a group of children that fall within a certain age range that are in the normative sample. Age-equivalent scores are then paired with mean raw scores from a specific age group of children. In result, the age-equivalent scores being used embody a group of individuals that were not tested.
Age-equivalent scored also do not represent children who scored extremely high and extremely low on the given test. Age-equivalent scores are not estimated for the extreme scores at either end of the spectrum. Children that fall within these ranges are given a generalized age-equivalent score of below the lowest age derived or above the highest age. This results in inadequate information for all individuals that scores are reflected on these parts of the
Norm-referenced standardized tests (NRST) used for different administration over the decades. The NRST classifies individuals. It highlights achievements differences between and among students to develop reliable scores. In school systems NRSTs helps identified students for remedial programs. The U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment (1992), establish a standardized test as one that uses (NAGC - ED Norm- and Criterion-Referenced Testing. (n.d.) (Retrieved from http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=314). Similar procedures for application and scoring in order to ensure that results from different people are comparable (Bond, 2010). NRST compares the performance of students with other students from large groups. Using a standardized test like the NRST will grade students in order from high to low achievers. A valid population must be from the widest range of the student population. Accordingly, the assessment must also report the status of student achievement “broken down by gender, ethnicity, disability, economic disadvantage, English proficiency, and...
The home and educational rating scales are the same 36-item forms having a 4-point Likert scale depending on how frequently the kid exhibits each behavior or characteristic. The P...
This article supports the argument that speech-language pathologists should not use AE scores in reporting results of norm-referenced testing. Age-equivalent scores are the age at which a given raw score is average The authors give many limitations of AE test scores. The first limitation is that AE scores do not take into consideration the range of normal performance whose scores fall into the average range. Age-equivalent scores instead represent the age that the raw score is average. The article goes on to say that the lack of consideration for a normal performance range can result in these scores giving a false standard of performance (Maloney & Larrivee 2007). Another limitation the article discusses is that AE scores promote typological thinking. Age-equivalent scores compare clients to the average of their age group, when in reality, there is no average. Another limitation is the lack of info provided about the examinee’s performance. One cannot assume that because two people have the same score that they responded the same way. This only means that they answered the
Myers, C.L., Bour, J.L., Sidebottom, K.J., Murphy, S.B., and Hakman, M. (2010). Same constructs, different results: Examining the consistency of two behaviors-rating scales with referred preschoolers. Psychology in the Schools,47, 205-216.
...e highly individualized, there are a variety of ways to interpret the results. There are four categorical scores that can all be combined or individually analyzed in addition to the percentile and age-adjusted subtest norms. These quanitiative scores can be used to determine whether a child exhibits higher, lower, or average level cognitive or social functioning (Korkman, et al., 2007a). In addition to the NEPSY-II results, it is important for administrators to integrate the results of other educational, environmental, neurobiological, and medical records in order to make a more thorough assessment and recommend more comprehensive interventions. While the NEPSY-II may help educators, parents, and professionals indicate the neuropsychological of the child, it is important to understand that it is not to be used for the localization of brain dysfunction (Kemp, 2010).
In recent years many schools have begun to put more emphasis on standardized test scores. Almost all college bound students now take entrance exams like the ACT or SAT. These tests supposedly indicate how "smart" a student is and how successful they would be in colle...
There are many issues one might face when about to take a test, some students may "have something major interfering with their ability to focus, may miss or not perform well" (Baxter,Mella). No test score can show what that kid has been through, over come, or is going through at the time of the test. There is also no way to show how many hours each student studied. Just because a student does not perform well on one test, should not foreshadow their future.
order to be capable to speak of dominance. One manner is to examine children’s rankings statistically and solely analyze between language differences as signs of dominance, or the use of base scores to see whether or not children reach age monolingual norms for one language. Despite these issues, the use of such differential rankings makes it possible to evaluate adolescents with the equal language grade and at the same time stay away from the trouble of the cross linguistic validation.
It’s interesting to know that clinics like the one I volunteer for are approved by the Department of Education and can provide additional services to children who need them. I have been told by quite a few people that in the past, speech-language pathologists had to know a little bit of everything, and while that still holds true today, specialized speech-language pathologists are becoming more of the norm. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association offers SLPs the opportunity to receive their Clinical Specialty Certification, which is a step beyond the Certificate of Clinical Competence. These areas include Child Language and Language Disorders, Fluency and Fluency Disorders, Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders, and Intraoperative Monitoring; Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT), what the SLP that worked with Student A was certified in, is governed by the Alexander Graham Bell Academy for Listening and Spoken Language. As a future speech-language pathologist, I will be able to refer a child whose speech and language issues go beyond hearing loss to the appropriate SLP and work collaboratively with him/her; educators will be able to advocate for their
Standardized testing is a deeply flawed system. The American government continues to throw money at a program that has little or no hope of achieving the goals it set at its inception. The important message is that no test is valid for all purposes and “high stakes” decisions should not be made on the basis of a single test score. Test scores provide only a small picture of student achievement or potential (APA 2014).
Kohn suggests that if standardized testing is continued to be used, there needs to be something done to make sure that it is not as damaging to children. One way this can be done is by making sure that the tests have no time limit and do not include multiple c...
Reliability (extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test or on retesting)- Comparing test scores to those of the standardizing group still won't tell us much about the individual unless the test has reliability.
In the context of education, testing refers to “a method to determine a student’s ability to complete certain tasks or demonstrate mastery of a skill or knowledge” (Danuri 2012). Assessment is “the process of gathering information to monitor progress and make any decisions necessary” regarding curriculum and teaching (Danuri 2012). Assessment is a process that measures growth over time whereas testing is a form of evaluating what a student knows at...
Standardized Achievement tests are often administered to give a perspective on how well students perform, however, most educators fail to understand that they are only limited to a certain r...
Age discrimination continues to be a problem for both men and women that are over the age of 40 in the workforce. In year 1967, the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act ADEA was passed to prohibit discrimination against workers over age 40 and older. Another law in the year 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, or national origin. However there are still age discrimination and it seems to be more especially for older women more than older men. The Federal and the state should implement more regulations to protect workers' rights in all age groups, both in the younger and older generation including their race and gender.