A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF LISTENING TESTS

Specific factors that can affect the evaluation of listening capacity are examined. A r e accurate measures of listening capacity attained during edu-cational assessments? Many diagnosticians, school psychologists, exceptional education teachers, and other school personnel admin-ister listening tests to determine eligibility for placement in excep-tional education programs without fully realizing the extent to which tests vary. One test writer's definition of listening capacity is often different from another test writer's, resulting in two com-pletely different measurements of listening capacity. Unless an examiner is aware of the test writer's definition of listening, a true measure of the test taker's ability cannot be attained. This is especially true if the test selected (e.g., recall of numbers) does not directly measure the area in need of examination (e.g., stu-dent comprehension of stories). On occasion, learning disabled students are reported as pos-sessing listening deficits when the true problem is the inappropriate selection and interpretation of a test instrument. The intent of this article is to identify three key issues that should be considered any time examiners select and interpret listening instruments