A Brief Guide for Selecting and Using Pre-Post Assessments

 

NDTAC has developed a guide titled A Brief Guide for Selecting and Using Pre-Post Assessments for State, agency, and/or facility administrators who provide education for children and youth who are neglected, delinquent, or at risk (N or D). The guide provides basic information about the ideal characteristics of a pre-post test and highlights important features to consider when requesting and evaluating information from test publishers.

The guide is intended primarily as a resource for those who are in the process of choosing a new pre-post assessment or who wish to evaluate their current testing procedures. Although few tests will have all the characteristics of an ideal pre-post test, this guide should help administrators select and use an instrument that best meets the needs of their student population.

What is meant by “pre-post testing” and why is it important?

"Pre-post testing" refers to academic achievement tests (in reading, math, and other subjects) that are given to students to assess their academic progress at the beginning and at the end of a program of instruction. Applied to students who are N or D, the tests may be administered when students enter and exit a facility.

A Brief Guide for Selecting and using Pre-Post Assessments (PDF)

The results of the pretest ideally reflect a student’s abilities upon entry to an educational placement and provide a baseline for the student’s current achievement level. Differences between the pretest and posttest should reflect the learning that occurred while in the facility or program.

Pre-post testing does not have to be limited to administration at entry and upon exit. Because many students leave facilities with little or no notice, there is not always time for posttesting before their next placement. Regular posttesting of academic achievement ensures that students leave a facility with as complete an educational history as possible. However, a posttest should not be given more times than the number of unique forms available for the test, and frequency of administration should follow the testing guidelines outlined by the test publisher. Computer-adaptive tests are one possible option for programs that conduct more frequent testing, as these programs often have large item banks to ensure that students will be given non-overlapping sets of items across pre- and posttest administrations.

Why is accurate pre-post testing critical for N or D programs?

Pre-post testing is a valuable tool for all of those involved in N or D programs.

• Students: Pre-post testing illustrates and documents students’ individual academic gain. Timely pretesting allows for accurate placement of the student upon entry to a new program, and consistent posttesting ensures that students leave a facility with updated educational records and receive credit for their progress. In addition, showing students evidence of their progress can be a powerful tool to keep them invested in their education.
• Teachers: Pre-post testing allows for real-time progress monitoring. Because multiple posttests can be administered throughout a student’s enrollment, educational gains can be monitored and instruction adjusted appropriately. Measuring academic progress through appropriately administered pre-post tests can be a useful tool in providing teachers feedback about how to better meet students’ academic needs.
• State, local, and program administrators: Aggregated results of students’ academic progress can be used for evaluating and improving educational programming on a broader scale. Collecting data on student progress allows

  Pre-Post Testing Checklist Make sure the assessment selected is designed to be—and is used as—a pre-post test. Verify that the test is appropriate for the populations of students served given their ages, skill levels, backgrounds, etc. Check that the test measures the content area you want it to measure. Consider using the same assessment as your peers (e.g., other N or D programs in the State). Try to ensure that the conditions under which the student takes the pre- and posttests are as similar as possible.

  facilities to measure the effectiveness of their educational programs and make any necessary changes, and provides local and State administrators with the necessary information to make comparisons across facilities. In doing so, administrators can identify particularly effective programs that can serve as models for others. Such data collection can also help facilities, agencies, and States meet State and Federal reporting requirements.

Clearly, there are a multitude of advantages to administering pre-post assessments. However, in order to maximize these benefits, it is essential that the assessment selected be appropriate both for pre-post testing and for the specific population. For more information on these and other features of pre-post testing for the N or D population, please refer to the full document (PDF).

Related Resources from Other Federal Programs Using Pre-Post Assessments

The National Reporting Systems for Adult Education (NRS)

The NRS website provides access to a searchable database of tests used in adult education programs, test characteristics, and publishers’ information. Some of the reading and math pre-post tests used in adult education programs are also used in N or D programs, especially in adult correctional facilities that serve youth who are N or D.

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Common Measures for Youth (PDF)

As part of its common measures and performance accountability system, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) requires WIA programs to report on literacy and numeracy gains of out-of-school youth who are basic-skills deficient and receive services through the WIA. To maintain consistency with the Department of Education (ED), the ETA has aligned policies for the outcome of educational gain with the NRS. For more in-depth information about ETA’s accountability system, view a copy of the guidance letter (PDF).

 

Published April 2006

 

 

» The NDTAC Assessment Toolkit: Measuring Student Academic Performance includes an overview of the benefits of collecting and using academic assessment data; a variety of data collection materials, including interactive electronics tables and graphs; and a discussion of how to use the results of the data collection to guide educational programming at the student, facility, and State levels.

» A Look at Legislation: Common Pre-Post Assessments examines legislation in both Florida and California that is designed to improve program accountability through consistent evaluation of students’ academic achievement in facilities and programs for youth who are N or D.

» Academic Assessments: How do N or D Programs Evaluate and Implement the Options? (September 2005) Joy Lewis and Robert Bakke discuss evaluating and implementing academic assessments in alternative educational settings in California.

» Visit our updated Pre-Post Assessment and Data Systems sections to view numerous resources on assessment, data collection, and reporting, including relevant strategies and models, recent presentations on the topic, and more.

 

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