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PSY2041 Educational Testing - Study Notes

Indigenous Acknowledgement and Context

We begin with an acknowledgement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, learning, and living. The material recognises that many models of educational and intelligence testing may not align with these ways. Monash University notes its campuses are on the unceded lands of the Kulin Nation and pays respects to Elders past and present. The slide references the 8 WAYS ABORIGINAL PEDAGOGY and invites reflection on how common educational testing aligns with traditional Aboriginal processes and protocols.

Lecture Objectives & Outline

The unit outlines four key objectives:

  • Understand the role of testing and assessment in education (and psychology), including common referral questions, a case study, and Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs).
  • Be familiar with different types of educational tests and the purposes they serve, including examples.
  • Be familiar with other assessment tools in education and vocation, such as the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT-III) and NAPLAN, plus other examples.
  • Be familiar with aspects of a psychoeducational assessment report.

The Role of Educational Testing

Educational assessments answer questions about how much learning has taken place and to what degree it has been mastered, and how a student’s knowledge compares with various groups. They assess:

  • Prerequisites for learning (what foundational skills a person has).
  • Whether a student is having difficulties with learning material, why that is, and what can be done to help.
  • They often prompt referrals to psychology when difficulties are identified.

Common Referral Questions for Psychology Input

Typical questions include:

  • How does a student’s knowledge compare to peers?
  • What is the degree of prerequisites for learning?
  • Are there learning difficulties, and what might be done to alleviate them?
  • Is the child delayed in learning or do they learn differently?
  • Why might summative assessment results not reflect effort or learning in the classroom?
  • Is the child ready for primary/high school, and what accommodations support independent learning at university?
  • Could the difficulties indicate a learning disorder or something else?
  • Are learning difficulties developmental or a result of interrupted learning during COVID?

Case Study: Layla (Introduction)

Layla is a 9-year-old in Grade 3 who loves creating stories, drawing, and maths. Background:

  • Autistic & ADHD (AuDHD), identified at age 5; Ritalin helps concentration.
  • She enjoys school and has strong maths; she experiences morning anxiety when Literacy is scheduled.
  • She understands what she reads but struggles with pronouncing individual words; spelling is immature relative to her oral storytelling.
    Referral Question: Does Layla have a Specific Learning Disorder (SLD)? This case is based on a real individual with identifying information altered for privacy.

Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs)

SLDs have four main diagnostic criteria (abbreviated):

  • A. Difficulties in at least one area persisting for 6 months despite targeted intervention.
  • B. Academic skills are quantifiably and substantially weaker than age-expected levels and cause functional impairment.
  • C. Difficulties emerge during school years.
  • D. No other explanation (including inadequate educational instruction).

Neurodevelopmental framing: these difficulties reflect brain wiring from the outset and are not a choice; they can be supported and accommodated. Three categories of academic skills are typically considered:

  • Reading
  • Written Expression
  • Mathematics
    In some circumstances, diagnoses can be based on significant discrepancies between intellectual and academic abilities.

Layla Case Details and Questions on SLD

Layla’s case highlights that multiple neurodivergences can co-occur, increasing the likelihood of other neurodivergences and functional impairment. Reading comprehension may be intact, yet she is a poor, inaccurate or inefficient reader. She also demonstrates spelling difficulties inconsistent with oral abilities. Questions include whether Layla has an SLD and how to verify it.

Types of Educational Tests

The unit distinguishes several categories and purposes of tests:

  • Formats: Individual vs Group
  • Types: Achievement vs Aptitude
  • Other tools: WIAT-III, NAPLAN, and other examples

Formats – Individual vs Group

  • Individual Tests: One-on-one with the assessor; more time-consuming and expensive but more individualized; examiner records responses; scoring requires examiner skill and interpretation; allows for qualitative information and individualized interpretation; higher potential for bias but better adaptation to the student.
  • Group Tests: Many students assessed simultaneously; less expensive and efficient but provides a snapshot of skills; responses are often recorded by students (multiple-choice etc.); scoring can be more objective and automated; fewer safeguards against misinterpretation if a low score is assumed to reflect low ability.
  • Emotional and motivational factors can influence performance in assessments; stress and self-efficacy strongly affect outcomes.

Types of Tests: Achievement vs Aptitude

  • Achievement Tests: Evaluate learned content from clearly defined learning experiences (e.g., PSY2041 material).
  • Aptitude Tests: Evaluate potential future ability or the capacity to apply learned content in new ways; may include some previously learned content in novel contexts.
  • Crystallised Ability: Heavily dependent on direct experience and learning.
  • Fluid Ability: General ability to adapt or transfer experience to new problems.
    Achievements can be Formative (monitor progress) or Summative (assess total content learned) and can be Fact-based (rote learning) or Conceptual (application of facts).

Examples of Achievement Tests

  • Individual: WIAT-III, Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement (WJ), WRAT-4
  • Group: NAPLAN, university assessments, VCE/IB/QCE/HSC
  • Administration: typically by educators for achievement tests; psychologists for selected or more comprehensive evaluations

Examples of Aptitude/Intelligence Tests (General vs Specialized)

  • General Aptitude (broad): WISC-V, WAIS-IV, WPPSI-IV (usually individual); Stanford-Binet (individual)
  • Specialized or Vocational Aptitude tests: UMAT/UCAT/GAMSAT (medical/clinical domains, usually group)
  • Administering bodies: psychologists for aptitude tests; educators for some general or class-based measures

Example Aptitude Items and Visual/Mechanical Reasoning

  • A sample UMAT-type aptitude item involves selecting the next logical picture in a sequence.
  • Mechanical reasoning items may ask about the rotation of gears or similar physical reasoning problems.

Case Study: Layla – Test Selection Questions

What types of tests might be appropriate to answer Layla’s referral question?

  • Should we use Achievement tests, Aptitude tests, or both?
  • Should testing be Individual or Group?
  • For Aptitude tests, should we use specific (domain-focused) or general (broad) assessments?

Test Selection Guidance for Layla (What to Do)

Useful steps include:
1) Compare Layla to peers who have received the same educational experiences in class.
2) Administer the WISC-V to determine Layla’s intellectual abilities (aptitude) and where she should be performing relative to her cognitive profile.
3) Administer the WIAT-III to determine Layla’s actual achievement and how it aligns with her cognitive profile.
4) Consider additional checklists or rating scales to assess anxiety or other emotional factors.
5) Most importantly, incorporate Layla’s own perspective and feelings about her learning into interpretation and recommendations.

The WIAT-III (Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Third Edition)

  • Broad academic screening measure for ages 4–50 years assessing reading, mathematics, written expression, and oral language.
  • Subtests:
    • Reading: single-word reading, decoding of non-words, comprehension of passages, reading fluency and accuracy
    • Written expression: spelling (single-letter and single-word), sentence and essay composition
    • Mathematics: speeded arithmetic fluency, untimed calculations, worded problems
    • Oral language: expressive language
  • It is an individual achievement test reflecting learning appropriate to structured educational environments (kindergarten through university).
  • WIAT-III results can be compared to results from aptitude tests like the WISC-V or WAIS-IV to determine actual vs predicted ability.
  • Intellectual functioning is a significant predictor of academic achievement, but not the only one, so interpretation should consider broader context.
  • WIAT-III provides age-normed and grade-normed references and is used in the context of SLD diagnoses as part of a comprehensive assessment.
  • Why compare achievement to aptitude? Because this helps separate what a student can learn from what they can actually apply given their cognitive resources.

National Assessment Program – Literacy & Numeracy (NAPLAN)

  • Annual national assessment of literacy and numeracy in Australia for students in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9.
  • Four domains: Reading, Writing, Conventions of language (spelling, grammar, punctuation), Numeracy.
  • All students in the target grades complete NAPLAN, administered in group settings to assess learned content consistent with expected year-level standards.
  • NAPLAN results can be compared against within-school assessments to characterise individual strengths and weaknesses, but NAPLAN is not diagnostic because benchmarks are cohort-based for each year.
  • Criticisms exist (e.g., limitations in reflecting disruption impacts, etc.).

Other Educational & Vocational Assessment Examples

Beyond WIAT-III and NAPLAN, other tools include:

  • Performance-based assessments: Exhibitions or portfolios demonstrating real-world skill application.
  • Authentic assessments: Real-world relevance and tasks.
  • Checklists & rating scales: Presence/absence or frequency of events, sometimes aligned with standardized norms.

Psychoeducational Assessment Reports

A psychoeducational report (as illustrated in Layla’s de-identified report) should include:

  • The referral question and source
  • Relevant developmental and family history
  • Educational history
  • List of assessments conducted
  • Observations and presentation
  • Results and interpretation
  • Formulation, summary, and recommendations

Background, Assessment Results, and Formulation (Layla Case)

In Layla’s case, group-based achievement testing revealed an individual weakness inconsistent with her overall aptitude for learning. Layla was diagnosed with an SLD in Reading (dyslexia) when considering cognitive and achievement profiles together with history and interaction with other factors. The diagnosis should not be made in isolation from developmental and mental health history because these factors interact and influence outcomes.

The Role of Educational Testing (Revisited)

Educational testing serves to quantify learning progress, compare performance to peers, and assess prerequisites for learning. They help determine why learning difficulties exist and inform interventions. In some cases there may be no clear diagnosis, in which case a comprehensive cognitive, academic, and personal strengths-and-weaknesses assessment can guide future recommendations.

Summary and Practical Implications

  • Educational testing integrates multiple sources: cognitive ability (aptitude), achievement (knowledge acquisition), and contextual/psychosocial factors.
  • Diagnostic decisions (e.g., SLDs) rely on criteria that include persistent difficulties, significant underperformance relative to expectations, and consideration of instruction quality.
  • Tools like WIAT-III and NAPLAN provide complementary information: WIAT-III offers detailed achievement profiling across domains, while NAPLAN offers national benchmarks and year-level comparisons.
  • Case examples (Layla) illustrate how to integrate case history, test data, and student voice to form a comprehensive understanding and to guide interventions and supports.
  • The assessment process emphasizes ethical considerations, cultural awareness (e.g., Indigenous perspectives), and collaboration with families, schools, and students to optimise learning outcomes.

Key Equations and Concepts

  • Variance explained by correlation: If r is the correlation between two variables X and Y, then the proportion of variance in Y explained by X is given by r^2. For a hypothetical correlation of r = 0.70, the variance explained is r^2 = (0.70)^2 = 0.49 = 49 ext\%. The multiple-choice example often tests understanding of this concept (e.g., a question asking what percentage of variance is explained).
  • Diagnostic process for SLDs includes criteria that require discrepancy (between expected and actual performance) and impairment in daily functioning, along with ruling out inadequate instruction.

Ethical and Practical Considerations

  • Testing should be interpreted in light of the student’s overall context, including co-occurring neurodivergences, anxiety, and other factors.
  • The tests chosen should align with the referral question and be appropriate for the student’s age, background, and needs.
  • When presenting results, reports should be clear, integrated, and actionable for families and educators, balancing technical accuracy with practical recommendations.

Contact for Further Discussion

For questions, reflections, or feedback, you can reach Dr. Tracey Chau at tracey.chau@monash.edu.