Gallaudet Research Institute (GRI)- GRI Research: Assessment

Assessment & Deaf Test Takers

Important Stanford Achievement Test Information:
Material and reports with age-based percentiles for deaf and hard of hearing students for the Stanford Achievement Test - 10th Edition are available from the Gallaudet Research Institute now. Stanford Achievement Test - 9th Edition materials will still be available in 2004-05 as well.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Stanford Achievement Test - 10th Edition.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Stanford Achievement Test - 9th Edition. Contains a brief update on the norming of the 10th Edition, information about the 9th Edition of the test, materials available from the GRI and from the test publisher, information on ordering materials, and links to research on the achievement of deaf students who took the Stanford Achievement Test (6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th editions). The Stanford is the test often used to answer questions about literacy (see also Literacy & Deaf Students), such as, What is the reading level of deaf and hard of hearing people? and How can one assess the language skills of deaf students?

Assessment and Deafness. Background comments on 10th Edition Stanford norming (May 2002).

WISC-III Utilization with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students by Lynne Blennerhassett, Ed.D. (Department of Psychology, Gallaudet University), and Carol Bloomquist Traxler, Ph.D. (Gallaudet Research Institute). Gallaudet Research Institute Technical Report 99-1. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University, 1999. This 55-page report describes the results of a national survey of school psychologists to determine how they are using the Wechsler Intelligence Test for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III). The report discusses the extent of use of the WISC-III, score patterns among deaf and hard of hearing students, special accommodations for deaf and hard of hearing students, and the relationship of WISC-III scores to Stanford 9 achievement scores. Order No. TR99-1; Price: $3.50.

[Information on a forthcoming publication on using the WISC IV with deaf individuals will be provided here when it is announced. ]

Deaf-Eval -- Psychological Testing & the Deaf Client [mailing list]. "This is a restricted group for clinical psychologists, neuropsychologists, and school psychologists to discuss issues relevant to testing deaf and hard of hearing clients. Members must be psychologists or researchers in this area. Background verifications are necessary to join this group." This excellent resource, founded in June 2002, has over 100 members.

NASP-IG-SchPsyDeaf � NASP IG on D/HH students and families [mailing list]. Description: "National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) professional interest group on deaf and hard of hearing students and their families." This is an unmoderated, unrestricted group. This excellent resource, founded in January 1999, has over 190 members.

Test Accommodations for Deaf Students A collection of policy and practice related to testing deaf and hard of hearing examinees. Testing program policies. Standards of professional organizations. Institutional and regional policies.

National Task Force on Equity in Testing Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals. National information and advocacy group whose mission is to increase the pool of deaf and hard of hearing professionals providing service and leadership in the United States. The "Issue Briefs" are intended to provide information helpful to those who may be communicating with policymakers.

Assessment and American Sign Language A collection of information related to sign communication, ASL instruction, assessment of proficiency in sign language,and the legal or popular recognition of sign language. Includes "How many deaf and hard of hearing students are there? How many use sign language?"

Gallaudet Writing Scale. The English Department at Gallaudet University prepared this adaptation of the TOEFL Test of Written English (TWE) developed by Educational Testing Service. The task had been to develop a holistic writing scale that can be used to assess the writing of deaf college students in all undergraduate courses both within and outside the English Department at Gallaudet University. After developing reader training procedures and materials and evaluating their effectiveness in obtaining reliable scores, the group examined the validity of the writing scores produced using the Gallaudet Writing Scale's convergent and divergent validity coefficients with respect to other relevant cognitive measures. Reader training workshops and a process for qualification of readers, modeled after the process used by ETS for the TWE, are regularly given. Terry Coye (English Works!) spearheaded much of this effort.

Council of Europe - European Language Portfolio The "Common European Framework of Reference: Learning, Teaching, Assessment", Council of Europe reference document for the European Language Portfolio. See "Levels" for scoring information. (Note: This site refers to many spoken languages, but not to any signed language.)

The Gallaudet Writer's Handbook, 1999, by Marcia B. Bordman and Anne Womeldorf. This 167-page grammar and style handbook was designed specifically to improve the writing skills of deaf and hard of hearing college students. In addition to sections on sentence structure and parts of speech, the handbook features a quick reference and common errors section, plus a symbol system professors may use to help students analyze and correct their own writing errors. (Order No. HB99-1; Price: $18.95). This book is widely used at Gallaudet University.

Where can I find research on an assessment topic related to deafness? See the research question at Literacy & Deaf Students.