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Field Testing
As part of the continued development of the IPT testing
system, the test items created during Ballard &
Tighe’s item writing workshops underwent nationwide
field testing to ensure validity and reliability.
Test Item Preparation
The thousands of items created for the IPT testing system
were reviewed by testing experts for technical appropriateness,
by current classroom teachers across the United States
for grade-level appropriateness, and also by a select
panel of educators who screened the items for bias and
cultural/language sensitivity. Based on the recommendations
and feedback from these stringent reviews, the items
were refined further in preparation for field testing.
Field Testing Process
Field testing in April, May and June 2004 gathered valuable
information about how the specially created test items
perform with real students. Thousands
of English language learners at elementary, middle and
high schools in 15 states across the country participated
in field testing numerous items designed to evaluate
Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing skills in
the following four IPT levels: Level 2 (Grades 1-2);
Level 3 (Grades 3-5); Level 4 (Grades 6-8), and Level
5 (Grades 9-12). Specifications and items for the Level
1 (Pre-K/K) tests are currently in development, with
field testing to follow.
Horizontal & Vertical Scaling
NCLB requires that English language proficiency assessment
show incremental growth to determine whether students
have met their AMAOs. The IPT is designed to measure
the developmental path of English language abilities,
ranging from zero ability, through all the intermediate
stages, and up to grade-level English language ability.
Thus, the IPT tests are both horizontally and vertically
scaled to provide one standardized scale to show progress
for students from grades Pre-K to Grade 12.
- To facilitate horizontal scaling, students participating
in the field tests took items in at least two of four
tests, e.g., reading and writing, reading and speaking,
writing and speaking, and so forth. After analysis,
the reading, writing, listening, and speaking scores
were then expressed on the same scale.
- To facilitate vertical scaling, participants in
these type of field tests took items that were written
specifically for students in their grade span as well
as additional items that were written for students
in the grade span just below them. As a result, the
scores from all the different grade span tests can
be expressed on the same scale, making it possible
to report annual progress even when a student takes
one test (e.g., Level 3) one year and another test
(e.g., Level 4) the next year.
Field Test Analysis
Field testing provided crucial information about how
the actual items function in an authentic test setting.
Ballard & Tighe’s assessment team analyzed
the field test results during the summer of 2004 and went on to construct the first IPT operational
test forms and support materials in preparation for
the final phase of the project — pilot testing.
With the successful completion of pilot testing, the
refined IPT test forms were made available by Summer 2005.
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