Praxis PLT Study Guide UPDATED Exam
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Assessment - CORRECT ANSWER - the process of drawing inferences about a student's
knowledge and abilities based on a sample of the student's work.
results can provide valuable information about students' achievements and motivations to
teachers, parents, students, and educational administrators as well as information about the
success of the teacher in meeting his or her personal and professional goals
Formative evaluations - CORRECT ANSWER - designed to provide information
regarding what students know and can do before or during instruction.
helps to drive the direction of the lesson — allowing teachers and students to judge whether the
lesson is going well, whether students need additional practice, or whether more information
needs to be provided by the teacher
summative evaluations - CORRECT ANSWER - - address the question, "What have
students learned?"
- provide information regarding what students know or have achieved following instruction
Diagnostic assessments - CORRECT ANSWER - - intended to identify what students
know before instruction
-used to identify exceptionalities in learning, including disabilities and giftedness
-frequently conducted outside the classroom by education specialists or school psychologists
Informal assessments - CORRECT ANSWER - - spontaneous measures of student
achievement.
Formal assessments - CORRECT ANSWER - - planned and structured
-can be used for formative as well as summative evaluation
Objective tests - CORRECT ANSWER - - include multiple-choice and matching tests
,-popular for many reasons, including that they can be scored easily and objectively and are
efficient and usually inexpensive to administer
- Can also be used to assess higher-level thinking, such as application or analogical reasoning
Essay tests - CORRECT ANSWER - - also known as free-response tests
-require students to create their own answers, rather than select from a set of possible responses
- can be quick to construct, although they can be challenging to grade fairly
Standardized tests - CORRECT ANSWER - - developed by test construction experts and
are used in many different schools or settings
- everyone takes the same test in the same way
-can include both objective and essay components
High-stakes testing - CORRECT ANSWER - Practice of using students' performance on a
single assessment instrument to make major decisions about students or school personnel.
Rubric - CORRECT ANSWER - List of components that a student's performance on an
assessment task should ideally include
Achievement tests - CORRECT ANSWER - - purpose: To assess how much students have
learned from what they have specifically been taught
-Test items are written to reflect the curriculum common to many schools. Test scores indicate
achievement only in a very broad and (usually) norm-referenced sense: They estimate a student's
general level of knowledge and skills in a particular domain relative to other students across the
country.
- These tests are usually more appropriate for measuring general levels of achievement than for
determining specific information and skills that students have and have not acquired.
General scholastic aptitude and intelligence tests - CORRECT ANSWER - - To assess
students' general capability to learn; to predict their general academic success over the short run
,- Test items typically focus on what and how much students have learned and deduced from their
general, everyday experiences. For example, the tests may include items that ask students to
define words, draw logical deductions, recognize analogies between seemingly unrelated topics,
analyze geometric figures, or solve problems.
- Test scores should not be construed as an indication of learning potential over the long run.
Specific aptitude and ability tests - CORRECT ANSWER - - To predict how well students
are likely to perform in a specific content domain
- Test items are similar to those in general scholastic aptitude tests, except that they focus on a
specific domain (e.g., verbal skills, mathematical reasoning). Some aptitude tests, called multiple
aptitude batteries, yield subscores for a variety of domains simultaneously.
- Test scores should not be construed as an indication of learning potential over the long run
- Tests tend to have only limited ability to predict students' success in a particular domain and so
should be used only in combination with other information about students.
anecdotal or running records - CORRECT ANSWER - - Narrative accounts of observed
student behavior or performance
- qualitatively capture the flavor of the behaviors
checklist - CORRECT ANSWER - - Assessment tool with which a teacher evaluates
student performance by indicating whether specific behaviors or qualities are present or absent.
rating scales - CORRECT ANSWER - - Assessment tool with which a teacher evaluates
student performance by rating aspects of the performance on one or more continua
performance assessment - CORRECT ANSWER - - a specific type of observation
frequently used for assessment of procedural knowledge
-well suited for the arts and for laboratory sciences
authentic assessments - CORRECT ANSWER - - emphasize skills used outside the
classroom in the "real world."
, portfolio - CORRECT ANSWER - - a collection of a student's work systematically
collected over a lengthy time period
- can include any number of different items — writing samples, constructions or inventions,
photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, and so on
- frequently include reflections
- an capture a broad picture of the student's interests, achievements, and abilities and are best
used for summative purposes
reflections - CORRECT ANSWER - - students' own evaluations and descriptions of their
work and their feelings about their achievements
conferences - CORRECT ANSWER - - can be an informal method for learning more about
what the student knows, thinks, or feels and how the student processes learning
RSVP - CORRECT ANSWER - - reliability, standardization, validity, and practicality
reliability - CORRECT ANSWER - - consistency in measurement
- if the same person took the same test more than once under the same conditions and received a
very similar score
Standardization - CORRECT ANSWER - - uniformity in the content and administration of
an assessment measure
- have similar content and format and are administered and scored in the same way for everyone
validity - CORRECT ANSWER - - how well it measures what it is intended to measure
- depends on the purpose and context of its intended use
Practicality - CORRECT ANSWER - - ease of use
- teachers may ask, Is the measure affordable given the budget? Can it be administered by current
staff, or with little training? Is special equipment needed? Can it be completed in the time
allotted?
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Assessment - CORRECT ANSWER - the process of drawing inferences about a student's
knowledge and abilities based on a sample of the student's work.
results can provide valuable information about students' achievements and motivations to
teachers, parents, students, and educational administrators as well as information about the
success of the teacher in meeting his or her personal and professional goals
Formative evaluations - CORRECT ANSWER - designed to provide information
regarding what students know and can do before or during instruction.
helps to drive the direction of the lesson — allowing teachers and students to judge whether the
lesson is going well, whether students need additional practice, or whether more information
needs to be provided by the teacher
summative evaluations - CORRECT ANSWER - - address the question, "What have
students learned?"
- provide information regarding what students know or have achieved following instruction
Diagnostic assessments - CORRECT ANSWER - - intended to identify what students
know before instruction
-used to identify exceptionalities in learning, including disabilities and giftedness
-frequently conducted outside the classroom by education specialists or school psychologists
Informal assessments - CORRECT ANSWER - - spontaneous measures of student
achievement.
Formal assessments - CORRECT ANSWER - - planned and structured
-can be used for formative as well as summative evaluation
Objective tests - CORRECT ANSWER - - include multiple-choice and matching tests
,-popular for many reasons, including that they can be scored easily and objectively and are
efficient and usually inexpensive to administer
- Can also be used to assess higher-level thinking, such as application or analogical reasoning
Essay tests - CORRECT ANSWER - - also known as free-response tests
-require students to create their own answers, rather than select from a set of possible responses
- can be quick to construct, although they can be challenging to grade fairly
Standardized tests - CORRECT ANSWER - - developed by test construction experts and
are used in many different schools or settings
- everyone takes the same test in the same way
-can include both objective and essay components
High-stakes testing - CORRECT ANSWER - Practice of using students' performance on a
single assessment instrument to make major decisions about students or school personnel.
Rubric - CORRECT ANSWER - List of components that a student's performance on an
assessment task should ideally include
Achievement tests - CORRECT ANSWER - - purpose: To assess how much students have
learned from what they have specifically been taught
-Test items are written to reflect the curriculum common to many schools. Test scores indicate
achievement only in a very broad and (usually) norm-referenced sense: They estimate a student's
general level of knowledge and skills in a particular domain relative to other students across the
country.
- These tests are usually more appropriate for measuring general levels of achievement than for
determining specific information and skills that students have and have not acquired.
General scholastic aptitude and intelligence tests - CORRECT ANSWER - - To assess
students' general capability to learn; to predict their general academic success over the short run
,- Test items typically focus on what and how much students have learned and deduced from their
general, everyday experiences. For example, the tests may include items that ask students to
define words, draw logical deductions, recognize analogies between seemingly unrelated topics,
analyze geometric figures, or solve problems.
- Test scores should not be construed as an indication of learning potential over the long run.
Specific aptitude and ability tests - CORRECT ANSWER - - To predict how well students
are likely to perform in a specific content domain
- Test items are similar to those in general scholastic aptitude tests, except that they focus on a
specific domain (e.g., verbal skills, mathematical reasoning). Some aptitude tests, called multiple
aptitude batteries, yield subscores for a variety of domains simultaneously.
- Test scores should not be construed as an indication of learning potential over the long run
- Tests tend to have only limited ability to predict students' success in a particular domain and so
should be used only in combination with other information about students.
anecdotal or running records - CORRECT ANSWER - - Narrative accounts of observed
student behavior or performance
- qualitatively capture the flavor of the behaviors
checklist - CORRECT ANSWER - - Assessment tool with which a teacher evaluates
student performance by indicating whether specific behaviors or qualities are present or absent.
rating scales - CORRECT ANSWER - - Assessment tool with which a teacher evaluates
student performance by rating aspects of the performance on one or more continua
performance assessment - CORRECT ANSWER - - a specific type of observation
frequently used for assessment of procedural knowledge
-well suited for the arts and for laboratory sciences
authentic assessments - CORRECT ANSWER - - emphasize skills used outside the
classroom in the "real world."
, portfolio - CORRECT ANSWER - - a collection of a student's work systematically
collected over a lengthy time period
- can include any number of different items — writing samples, constructions or inventions,
photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, and so on
- frequently include reflections
- an capture a broad picture of the student's interests, achievements, and abilities and are best
used for summative purposes
reflections - CORRECT ANSWER - - students' own evaluations and descriptions of their
work and their feelings about their achievements
conferences - CORRECT ANSWER - - can be an informal method for learning more about
what the student knows, thinks, or feels and how the student processes learning
RSVP - CORRECT ANSWER - - reliability, standardization, validity, and practicality
reliability - CORRECT ANSWER - - consistency in measurement
- if the same person took the same test more than once under the same conditions and received a
very similar score
Standardization - CORRECT ANSWER - - uniformity in the content and administration of
an assessment measure
- have similar content and format and are administered and scored in the same way for everyone
validity - CORRECT ANSWER - - how well it measures what it is intended to measure
- depends on the purpose and context of its intended use
Practicality - CORRECT ANSWER - - ease of use
- teachers may ask, Is the measure affordable given the budget? Can it be administered by current
staff, or with little training? Is special equipment needed? Can it be completed in the time
allotted?
