ASSESSMENT
Ability to Benefit
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 34, Part 668, Subpart J
Sec. 668.141 — Scope
This subpart stipulates the provisions by which a student who has neither a high school diploma nor its recognized equivalent (for example, a GED) may establish eligibility for Title IV federal student financial aid. In Oklahoma career and technology centers, this means achieving a passing score specified by the US Secretary of Education on a test approved by that office. Alternative routes would be passing a state developed test or following a state process, neither of which exist in Oklahoma because this would require all postsecondary institutions, including comprehensive and regional universities, community colleges, and career and technology centers, to use the same testing instrument.
Sec. 668.142 — Special definitions
An assessment center at a tech center is included in this regulation because our districts are “postsecondary vocational institutions” under the Higher Education Act. The assessment center has responsibility for gathering and evaluating information about individual students for a number of purposes, which include appropriate course or program placement. This can be accomplished through standardized or informal assessment, through an interview process, or through a combination of the two. The primary purpose of the assessment center must not be the administration of ability-to-benefit tests, therefore setting up a satellite testing unit that does only this kind of testing is prohibited. The assessment center must be independent of the admissions and financial aid processes at the school, and professionally trained personnel must staff it. This does not imply a requirement for a certified psychometrist to be on staff.
Computer-based tests are those taken by the student on a computer and scored by a computer. Paper and pencil tests that are scanned with scores registered in a computer are not included in this definition.
Disabled students are individuals who have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more life activities (essentially the definition from Section 504 of the Civil Rights Act), has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment.
General learned abilities as referred to in this regulation are cognitive operations such as deductive reasoning, reading comprehension, or math operations. They may have been learned either in school or in non-school settings.
Non-native speaker of English means a person whose first language is not English and who is not fluent in English.
Secondary school level means knowledge or skills generally learned in the 9th through 12th grades in American high schools. In this regulation the phrase may be applied to content, curricula, or “basic verbal and quantitative skills”.
The Secretary for purposes of this document refers to the office of the Secretary of Education of the United States.
A test administrator is an individual who may give tests under this subpart. No particular job title is specified.
A test item is a question on a test.
The test publisher is the entity that holds a registered copyright of a test or is licensed by that individual, organization, or agency to sell or distribute a test.
Sec. 668.143 — Approval of state tests or assessments
This section is irrelevant to Oklahoma career and technology centers, as no such instrument has been or will be developed. The cost of doing so would be prohibitive (several million dollars), the instrument would need to be appropriate for use not only by tech centers but also by comprehensive universities, regional universities, and community colleges. In addition, the Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education have very strong ties with the American College Testing Program (ACT) and are not likely to help underwrite the development of an instrument that would, in effect, be a competitor with the ACT.
Sec. 668.144 — Application for test approval
In order for a test to be approved, its publisher must submit it to the Secretary and must provide very exacting and extensive technical information related to the norming process, elimination of bias, test development, content, reliability, validity, and item analysis.
Sec. 668.145 — Test approval procedures
When a test has been properly submitted, the Secretary convenes a panel of experts who examine the response to each criterion, the technical merits of the instrument, and a number of other qualities. After taking the panel’s recommendations into account, the Secretary determines that the test either will or will not be approved for purposes of establishing Title IV eligibility under the Ability-to-Benefit provisions. If a test is denied approval, the publisher has the option of providing additional data and appealing the decision.
The approval is granted for a period not to exceed five years. The Secretary may withdraw approval, however, if it is determined that the publisher has violated any terms of the ATB agreement or if it is discovered that false information was submitted as part of the application. If approval is revoked, a notice will be published in the Federal Register, and the revocation will become effective 120 days from the date of publication.
Sec. 668.146 — Criteria for approving tests
The test instrument must assess secondary school level basic verbal and math skills and “general learned abilities”. It must have enough items to adequately sample all domains tested, and must require appropriate test-taking time that all domains will be addressed by the persons taking the test. It must have been normed on a population “beyond the age of compulsory school attendance” who have earned a high school diploma. This one requirement is the factor that has raised the passing scores to a higher level than when the test (TABE, for example) was normed on an adult population comprised of high school graduates as well as elementary, junior high, and senior high school dropouts. The norming must have occurred within the three years just prior to the submission of the test for approval, and all forms, including short forms, must be comparable in reliability. The test must also have two or more secure, equated, alternate forms of the test.
The instrument must also meet all standards for test construction that were provided in the 1985 edition of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (amended June 2, 1989). This document was prepared by a joint committee of the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education.
Sec. 668.147 — Passing scores
Besides exceptions noted in Sec. 668.143, 668.148, and 668.149, the Secretary has specified that a passing score on each approved test is one standard deviation below the mean that was established when the test was normed within the three year time limit using only high school graduates. Fortunately, the publisher is required to provide the designated passing score, therefore saving the test administrator a lot of statistical development time.
Sec. 668.148 — Additional criteria for the approval of certain tests
This section addresses the approval of performance-based tests, none of which are on the approved list. It would apply mainly to state-developed tests, and that issue is a moot point.
The approval of a test for non-native speakers of English is addressed here, also, as well as that for individuals with disabilities. Because no applications were submitted for approval of tests in either of these two categories, the Secretary opted to utilize pre-existing test lists.
Sec. 668.149 — Special provisions for the approval of assessment procedures for special populations for whom no tests are reasonably available.
This section has been amended since the regulations were issued. Individuals with disabilities are to be tested with the same tests as other persons with the exception that appropriate accommodations are to be made for the disability. In the event that no listed instrument can be administered, other procedures are to be followed. Obtain guidance by calling the US Department of Education.
Sec. 668.150 — Agreement between the Secretary and a test publisher
- Only test administrators certified by the publisher will give the test.
- The publisher will certify as test administrators only those persons who have the necessary training, knowledge, and skill to test students in the standardized format required by the publisher and those who have the ability and facilities to keep the test secure from unauthorized use.
- The publisher will decertify a test administrator for the balance of the approval period if the publisher determines that the test administrator has failed repeatedly to give its test in a standardized manner, has not kept the test secure, or violates any of the conditions in Sec. 668.151.
- Will keep for three years all documentation forwarded by the test administrator.
- Will analyze test scores every three years to determine whether an irregular pattern exists that raises a question about the appropriate administration of the test and will provide the Secretary with a copy of this analysis.
- Will, upon request, give the secretary, a guaranty agency, or an accrediting agency (such as North Central Association or ODCTE) access to test records or other documents that might relate to an audit, investigation, or program review of the institution, publisher, or individual test administrator.
If the Secretary determines that the publisher is not following these criteria, the agreement/approval may be terminated with an opportunity for appeal.
Sec. 668.151 — Administration of tests
An institution may use the results of an approved test to determine eligibility for Title IV financial aid if a publisher-certified administrator has independently administered the test. Most of the criteria for independence listed in this section pertain to “for profit” or proprietary institutions, thus do not apply to Oklahoma career and technology centers. One issue to note is that a test administrator may not be a current or former student of the institution.
The Secretary perceives a test as not independently administered if the school
- Compromises test security or testing procedures.
- Pays a test administrator a bonus, commission, or any other incentive based on the test scores or pass rates of the students who fall into the ATB category.
- Interferes in any other way with the test administrator’s independence or test administration.
A student who does not pass the test must not retake the same form of the test for the period prescribed by the test publisher. As noted in the FAQ section of this guide, CTB MacMillan/McGraw-Hill has specified that the same form of the test may not be taken until six months from the prior administration. While most of us were schooled in the belief that one full year should elapse before administering the same form of an instrument, in this instance the publisher’s guidelines should be followed.
The institution/school is required to keep for all ATB candidates a record of the test taken by the student, the date of the test, and the student’s scores as reported by the assessment center.
Sec. 668.152 — Administration of tests by assessment centers
This section begins by stating that the assessment center “shall properly administer the test” as described in Sec. 668.151. This is the section that authorizes Oklahoma career and technology centers to score the tests themselves and to promptly notify the admissions and financial aid offices of whether the student passed the test. The assessment center must also provide to the publisher every year 1) all copies of completed tests of ATB candidates, or 2) a report listing all ATB test-takers’ scores and the institutions to which the scores were sent. No particular date is specified, so the end of the calendar year or the end of the fiscal year might be a logical choice.
Sec. 668.153 — Administration of tests for students whose native language is not English or for persons with disabilities
For non-native speakers of English, the list of approved tests is the same as it was under the interim regulations with the addition of one instrument, the C.E.L.S.A. It is important to note that the list is divided into three sections and only one of these sections is likely to be pertinent to Oklahoma AVTS needs (see FAQ section).
Documentation that the student has a disability and is unable to be evaluated by the use of one of the newly authorized tests is extremely important. Self-disclosure and observation are not adequate sources of information under this law, which states that “Documentation of a student’s impairment may be satisfied by 1) A written determination, including a diagnosis and recommended testing accommodations, by a licensed psychologist or medical physician; or 2) A record of such a determination by an elementary or secondary school or a vocational rehabilitation agency, including a diagnosis and recommended testing accommodations.”
Sec. 668.154 — Institutional accountability
The school will be liable for the Title IV funds disbursed to any student whose eligibility is determined under this regulation if any of the following occur:
- The principle of independence of the assessment center and/or test administrator are violated.
- The school compromises the testing process in any way.
- The school is unable to document that the student received a passing score on an approved test.
Sec. 668.155 — Transitional rule for the 1996-97 award year
This section is no longer applicable.
Sec. 668.156 — Approved State process
Does not apply to Oklahoma.