Category: Standardization Study

The standardization study is the study performed by test creators during the test design process. It is supposed to determine the normal curve from the standardization sample’s performance upon which standard scores will be based. However, the standardization sample rarely adequately represents the individual being tested.

Construct Validity of the PLS-5

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Proceed with Caution PLeaSe- PLS-5 English Construct Validity Concerns-tiny
Two recent graduates of the Teachers College Columbia University speech-language pathology program, supervised by Cate Crowley, created and presented this poster at the ASHA convention in Chicago, 2013 detailing construct validity concerns with the PLS-5. The work was initially done as part of Cate’s Assessment and Evaluation class at Teachers College.

Alexandra Gibson and Elana Winters  presented this poster at ASHA’s convention in Chicago in November 2013. Alexandra and Elana created this poster based on work they did in the Assessment and Evaluation course at Teachers College Columbia Uniersity. This course is required as part of  the master’s SLP program there.

In that course the students must analyze the most widely used standardized tests to identify disorder/disability for children and adolescents. They analyze the tests’ validity, reliability, and significant biases among other factors. The information for the analysis is primarily from the test itself—generally the interpretive and technical manuals and the other information provided to anyone who purchases the test. That material is analyzed in light of the standards of the field, including the work of Dollaghan, Vance and Plante, Restrepo, and going back to even McCauley and Swisher‘s work of 1984. In the class students find and incorporate into their analysis any research on current or older versions of the test. Another part of the task is to analyze the significant biases including cultural and linguistic biases and biases related to socio-economic background.

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