Performance test scores: How valid are they for students with hearing impairments

The present study was done to examine if valid test score interpretations based on standardized performance tasks could be made for students with hearing impairments. A total of 22 students from two deaf schools were recruited for this study. Each student completed a series of questionnaires, a prior knowledge test, and three different kinds of performance assessments---explanation task, problem-solving task, and knowledge map. The results for this study were mixed. The data from this study indicate moderate relationships between the explanation and problem-solving tasks and the performance tasks and other measures of knowledge. In contrast, weak relationships exist between the knowledge-mapping task and all math tests used in this study, except for the explanation task. Furthermore, no significant relationships were found between the performance tasks and the opportunity to learn indicators. As for the question regarding the association between language competency and test performance, the results show no significant relationship between the two constructs.