Administration?

What Are Some Important Issues to Consider during the Assessment Administration?

TIMING AND TEST SECURITY Depending on the length of the assessment, it may not be possible for all testing to be completed on the same day, in which case it will be critical for the test administrator to ensure the security of the materials (Greaney and Kellaghan 2008, 2012). The test administrator will need to corroborate that test materials are correctly labeled, collected, and appropriately secured after each testing session. Careful preparation and coordination with schools in advance of the assessment administration can help ensure that adequate space and resources are available to store tests and answer booklets securely.

LOCAL CONDITIONS Before implementation, test administrators should have received test manuals and attended training sessions to ensure that the test administration procedures are well understood and can be properly executed. Preparation is particularly important, given the wide variation in testing conditions that administrators may encounter, to ensure that students can be seated appropriately and the classroom is free of materials that might distract students or aid their completion of the assessment. It may be helpful to create a checklist for test administrators to review before administration. The following questions are asked by evaluators responsible for quality control of TIMSS (Greaney and Kellaghan 2012). • Are there adequate numbers of test booklets? • Are there adequate numbers of student answer sheets? • Are the test booklets sealed, or have they been tampered with before distribution to students? • Do classrooms have adequate seating and space for students participating in the assessment? • Will test administrators in all classrooms have access to a clock, stopwatch, or timer? • Is there an adequate supply of pencils and other materials? • If Scantron sheets are being used, is there an adequate supply of HB pencils?

Although test administrators have some control over the classroom environment and testing parameters, they cannot control teacher or student behavior. Students may arrive late to testing sessions or leave before sections of the test are completed. Teachers or school administrators might insist on being present in the classroom during the assessment when their presence is not standard procedure. As with participation, the test administrator should record any deviations from standard procedures (Anderson and Morgan 2008). Figure 5.2 shows a test administration form that could be used in the quality control process and to record any extraordinary events that may occur.