Gifted, Talented & High Ability Resource Links

Gifted, Talented & High Ability 

Resource Links

 
 

• National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)

• NAGC - Traits of Gifted Children

• NAGC- Characteristics of Gifted Children

• NAGC - Myths About Gifted Children

• NAGC - National Standards in Gifted Education

• Orange County Council - Gifted & Talented Education - Conference 

Bulletin Board Adapted from:

• Characteristics of Potentially Gifted Students from Culturally Diverse Backgrounds

5 Cardinal Criteria of Assessments

According to Brown & Abeywickrama (2010), the 5 cardinal criteria for "testing the test" are practicality, reliability, validity, authenticity, and washback.  Educators intent on thinking critically about assessments and how they influence instruction, should have a working knowledge of these 5 principles:

• PRACTICALITY - Researchers define a practical assessment as one which is cost effective, can be completed within allotted time, has flawless directions, uses human resources fittingly, does not over use material resources, and considers the perspectives of all stakeholders (Brown & Abeywickrama, 2010).  

• RELIABILITY - The principle of reliability, is defined as one which is both stable and faithful (Brown & Abeywickrama, 2010). Meaning, each time the assessment is utilized, all outcomes will consistently be similar each time it is administered (Brown & Abeywickrama, 2010). 

• VALIDITY - A valid test measures what it says it will measure, does not measure unrelated variables, relies on performance, gives germane information about students’ capabilities, and can be supported with justification (Brown & Abeywickrama, 2010). However, Kunnan asserts, assessment scores which unfairly interpret unrelated variables related to culture, race, and socioeconomic status have unequal levels of construct validity, since they assess “construct-irrelevant” factors (Kunnan, 2000). Construct-irrelevant factors create content prejudice, which causes inequity for culturally, linguistically, ethnically, and economically diverse scholars (Kunnan, 2000). For instance, an assessment which contains passages students have no prior knowledge of, or no schema to work with, puts diverse youngsters at a disadvantage for understanding. Unfortunately, these sorts of assessments perform a great disservice to culturally, linguistically, ethnically, and economically diverse scholars. Nevertheless, educators interested in championing the diversity of test-takers, should consider front loading diverse students with certain aspects of assessments (such as the topic of passages) so test-takers have the opportunity to build schemas on those topics, before being assessed.

• AUTHENTICITY - An authentic assessment contains everyday language, has items which can be put into context, consists of stimulating themes, incorporates an organized story structure, and imitates real world situations (Brown & Abeywickrama, 2010). However, Kusimo et al. (2000) remind readers, as students become more diverse, teachers must strive to make socio-culturally relevant assessments, accessible. Authentic assessments should seem sensible and understandable to all students, no matter what the students’ background (Kusimo et al., 2000). On the positive side, an educator who wishes to counter a low level of authenticity of an assessment may want to integrate passage topics into classroom lessons during class read alouds.

• WASHBACK - Gates’ research asserts, washback is “the influence of testing on teaching and learning” (as cited in Shawcross, 2002, p. 2). In thinking about washback, an assessment would have a low level of positive washback if there is no opportunity for a teacher, to inform students of their assessment progress. In other words, an assessment without a feedback component scores low on positive washback. However, educators intent on creating a higher level of positive washback should consider integrating a feedback session to discuss students' results along with strategies on how to improve in class, and for the next assessment.

Overall, discussions of assessment comes back to providing equity, access and opportunity to scholars in the classroom. Although no one assessment will always meet the needs of every learner; educators familiar with the 5 cardinal criteria of practicality, reliability, validity, authenticity, and washback, will have the tools they need, to make assessments equitable and accessible to culturally, linguistically, ethnically, and economically diverse scholars. Let's champion for our students. Our students will, Fight On!