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Clinical Café by Tina Radichel, M.S., CCC-SLP

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Is It Time to Retire? No, Not You—Your Tests!!

April 2003 Clinical Café by Tina Radichel, M.S., CCC-SLP

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Is It Time to Retire? No, Not You—Your Tests!!

"I can't wait until retirement!" screamed Orna.
"Why?" Cassie responded. "You seem so young; it can't possibly be time yet."
"Well, everything around me has changed, and I just don't seem to fit quite right anymore. 'New' and younger ones are cropping up every day. How do I compare?"
"Maybe you just need a little facelift," Cassie says.
"No, I think I need to be entered into the Veteran Hall of Fame!" declared Orna emphatically.
"You might be right," agreed Cassie, "but you should be consulted often for your history and expertise-you've served your profession well!"

Do you think this could be you and a colleague talking? Perhaps, but it also could be the imaginary conversation of two of your tests. What happens to tests as they age? How do test publishers decide when and how much to update a test? How should you decide when to use a new version of a test? Read on!

A Changing Landscape-Tests AND People

It's no secret that things change. We expect it, we see it, and sometimes we even welcome it! Change is also a constant when it comes to test revisions. There are at least two reasons for this: the test content and the population.

Test content is all about what you are measuring and how you measure it. For example, the GFTA-2 measures articulation ability. Articulation is a relatively stable content area. What needs to be measured isn't likely to change much. However, some of the items that the original GFTA used to measure articulation needed to be updated (e.g., the gun for initial /g/). Vocabulary is a less stable content area because the "common," and therefore easier, words sometimes go "out of fashion" and become less common/more difficult (e.g., "casserole" on the PPVT-R). Language ability can be measured in many ways and new methods may be unveiled over the years, making test changes necessary.

As you know, the population is also constantly shifting, both in demographics and in skill/ability areas. Education trends in both pedagogy and practice influence what students learn and how they approach testing and test content. As norms are developed, part of the reliability and validity of testing is based on the most accurate representation of the national population in both demographics and skills/abilities. As the nation goes, so does the test publisher in norms development.

To Revise: When and How? That is the Question

How often should a standardized test be updated? You'll love this answer—It depends. The "depends" relates to the stability of the various domains (e.g., articulation and IQ are logically more stable over the years than are vocabulary or reading achievement), and test developers always take the content into consideration. Additionally, some states don't allow professionals to use a test that is more than 10 years old, so clearly this is a factor to consider as well from a business/customer standpoint. According to AGS Publishing Vice President of Product Development, Dr. Kathleen Williams (also an SLP), and Director of Research, Marshall Dahl, 10 years is simply a "good rule of thumb" given all the contextual information on content, professional/customer needs, state requirements, development time, dollars, and the like.

When a test is revised, sometimes the content can be preserved and just the normative data updated (e.g., Normative Updates for K-TEA, WRMT-R, PIAT-R, and KeyMath-R). This certainly translates to a cost savings to everyone, including the field. The decision about what and how to update has to do with the domain being measured and the content to measure it. Achievement tests need to be updated at least every 10 years because the domain is not as stable. Articulation, as a domain, is stable, but the content may or may not be. Hence the longer time between the GFTA and the GFTA-2. Feedback from professionals in the field regarding such matters as content and layout also enters into the decision on necessary changes.

Making the Change...For You, For Your Students

Obviously, a test publisher promotes the most current version of each test. The latest revision is the most up-to-date in both content and norms and, therefore, the most authentic "apples to apples" comparison of the current educational environment. If you have a favorite test, like the PPVT, aligning with the revision schedule of the publisher allows you to purchase the test when the new revision is published. At the same time, previous versions of the test are often still used in schools and clinical settings because of large research studies, budget crunches, or other circumstances. In some cases (e.g., PPVT), equating studies conducted during the revision process result in score conversion tables between test scores on the previous edition to test scores on the new, revised edition. Such score conversion tables can be of great benefit to you, the clinician, for comparing test scores from different editions of the same test.

The bottom line is that everyone needs valid and reliable tests to use. Making decisions about test revision plans has everything to do with that outcome. The actual development of a norm-referenced test revision is more than just an "interesting process of lots of examinees and confusing statistics" when done correctly. Everyone has a role to play in the development of human potential. We take our role as seriously as you take yours, and we are committed to providing tests and materials that help you and your students on a daily basis.

As always, we'd like to thank you for your ongoing service to people with communication needs and to remind you that we are here to support you with that effort. If you'd like to discuss this topic further, please feel free to use the SLP Discussion Center as the vehicle for an ongoing discussion with your colleagues. Should you have questions regarding these or other Pearson Speech and Language products, we welcome your phone calls at 800-627-7271 or use our web site at http://ags.pearsonassessments.com.

Bring on the warmth of spring!