Evaluation of CAT/5

5

Wanda Clarke Tom Neumann Cece Schwennsen Diana Weis

CAT/5

 Name: California Achievement Test, Fifth Edition (CAT/5)  4 Forms:  Complete Battery A and B  Survey A and B  Publisher: Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, 1993

COST

 Individual Booklets by grade level  $1.80-$2.82Ave $2.50

 Answer Sheets  $1.20-$2.12Ave $1.60

 Full Battery of ALL Tests  $78.60 / 30  Individual Tests  $18.00 / 25

Nature of Test

 Purpose: this test is designed to evaluate students knowledge and achievement in the basic skills taught in schools in the United States.

Population:

 Level K……….K.0-K.9 (87 min.)  Level 10………K.6-1.6 (88 min.)  Level 11………1.6-2.2 (217 min.)  Level 12………1.6-3.2 (292 min.)  Level 13………2.6-4.2 (330 min.)  Level 14 -21/22 3.6-12.9 (330 min)

Content and Appropriateness:

 Areas measured:  reading  language arts  spelling  mathematics, study skills, science, and social studies.

Content and Appropriateness:

 Methods of Assessment  Selected response  Target to be assessed  Knowledge and understanding  Reasoning proficiency

Norms/standards:

 Percentile Ranks  Stanine  Grade Equivalents  Norm Curve Equivalents  Anticipated Achievement Score

Standardization Sample:

 Size: 261 public schools and 112 private (Catholic or Non-Public)  Fall: 109825 students K-12  Winter: 4161 students.

 Representation: enough information to fit test to district needs

Procedures:

 School ID  Secondary  Elementary  K-5, K-6, K-8, 7-8  94% of schools responded to demographic survey

Schools identified by region

 New England & Mid-East  Great Lakes & Plains  Southeast  Southwest & West

Schools identified by community size:

 Rural (farm or non-farm)  Town  Small City-Suburban  City-Urban  Large City-Inner City

Reliability

 Total battery ranged from 0.94 - 0.98

 Subtests had a median range of 0.88

 Spring standardizations were higher.

 CAT/5 uses a newer measure of the KR-20.  Reliability is high when a large # are involved and full battery is used.

Validity

 Criterion-reference Scores  75% students have mastery  50% students have partial mastery   50% is non-mastery  These % vary considerably based

Content

 CTB used a broad comprehensive sample of curriculum materials from across the country to develop items.

Reviewer’s Comments

 by Anthony J. Nitko, Professor of Education, School of Education, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Reviewer’s Comments

 Items & Content  Content Recency & Emphasis  Norming and Scaling  Validity and Reliability  Summary

Group Summary

 Pros  95% of students complete test within time allowed  Broad measurement of curriculum materials  Format optimal for Knowledge & Understanding and Reasoning Proficiency targets

Group Summary

 Pros  Parallel test forms  Essay form available  Entire battery score provides accurate measurement of student achievement

Group Summary

 Cons  OUTDATED - created using 1980’s curriculum  Norming done in spring and fall of 1991  Subtest scores are not as accurate as complete battery  Student scores in the mid-range are more accurate than extreme scores