8.4: Using Standardized Assessment Tools

In addition to sensitivity vs. specificity, validity, and reliability, before administering a conventional assessment, teachers and professionals should also consider factors such as:

• Cultural and linguistic diversity: Teachers and educational professionals have a legal responsibility to ensure fair assessment practices are used across different populations (Hanson and Espinosa 2016; Banerjee and Guilberson 2012; Santos de Barona and Barona 1991), which include methods that encourage and allow parent participation in the assessment process, and ensuring that children are assessed in their home language.

• Testing environment: Limited information is known regarding to what extent standardized assessments tools are being used and to what degree they are being used with fidelity. However, standardized assessments may not be the only source of information as it relates to assessment. Authentic assessment methods instead provide opportunities for individuals to learn about a child’s skills and knowledge within a naturalistic, play-based setting and with individuals they are familiar with.

• Ethical considerations: Teachers and educational professionals have an ethical responsibility to adhere to professional guidelines and advocate for their use (National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC] 2024; 2003; National Association of School Psychologists [NASP] 2020).

Scoring Tips – Calculating Chronological Age

Chronological age is the exact age of an individual at the time of assessment. It is calculated by subtracting the birth date from the test date:

Chronological age (years/months/days) = test date - birth date

For example:

A child is tested on March 15, 2024, and their birth date is July 10, 2018:

• Year difference: 2024 - 2018 = 7 years

• Month difference: March - July = -4 months (borrow from the year, making it 5 years, 8 months)

• Day difference: 15 - 10 = 5 days

The child’s chronological age is: 5 years, 8 months, 5 days.

Scoring Tips – Finding Basal and Ceiling Scores

Many standardized assessments use basal and ceiling scores to determine the range of administered test items.

• Basal Score: The point where a child answers a predetermined number of consecutive items correctly. Establishing the basal ensures that all previous items are considered correct.

• Ceiling Score: The point where a child answers a predetermined number of consecutive items incorrectly. This indicates the limit of the child’s ability in the tested domain.

Here is one example of an assessment’s completed score sheet:

• If a basal rule states that a child must answer three consecutive items correctly to establish a starting point, and they do so at item #5, all previous items (#1–4) are considered correct.

• If a ceiling rule states that after five consecutive incorrect responses the test stops, and the child answers incorrectly from items #15–19, the ceiling is at item #19, meaning testing stops here.

In many standardized assessments, raw scores are tabulated by adding the number of items scored as correct after the basal score and up to the ceiling score (in the example this number is 7) to the basal score itself (in the example this number is 5). Using the example above, the raw score would be 12.

Understanding basal and ceiling rules ensures accurate test administration and interpretation (McLoughlin and Lewis 2017). Therefore, professionals must ensure they review and clearly understand the scoring procedures of any assessment tool they use.