Blog 3: Chapter 4

I found this chapter to be difficult as well as last weeks.  Statistics is not something that I am familiar with nor had exposure to.  As an educator, we are not required to analyze the assessments the students take in this manner.  When looking over the assessments we look at growth or decrease in the scores.  If there is a decrease or no movement then we need to look further at what is going on with the particular child.  Also, we look at the particular questions the students got wrong and guide our teaching on the results.  With that in mind, I was able to relate to the section on percentages.  The chart that distinguished the differences between percentile ranks and percentages helped because it helped me understand that our testing is not analyzed by percentile ranks which at first I thought they fell under that category as well. 

In addition to that section, there were other points that Drummond and Jones (2010) stated that stood out and I felt was important to reflect on.  The first point was the importance to have a clear understanding of the scoring due to it being a reflection of the individuals’ performance.  You want to be accurate in determining how an individual performs so that the score has a meaning and you can explain what the score of a “60” means.  Another important component is the testing groups in the particular sample should be current.  It stated that the testing instruments should be revised every ten years but is that even enough.  Times change so often and I believe that all tests should be up to date to provide you with the most accurate information.  For example, there is a much bigger push for testing compared to when I was in school.  Finally, another part that stood out to me was the norm groups.  It made me question how reliable the interpretation is.  It states that it is vital to make sure that the results are relevant if you want them to be meaningful.  The text brought up the example that when looking at 6^th grade mathematics you would look at the grades across the country.  My question regarding that is do they take account of suburban versus urban settings.  All students perform differently and it would be important to include all economic status kids. In conclusion, statistics is something that everyone should have exposure to in order to be able to explain results of test and I look forward to becoming more familiar with basic statistical concepts.   

  Drummond, R. J. & Jones, K. (2010). Assessment Procedures for Counselors and Helping Professionals (7^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.