Guidelines for Using the ETS Proficiency Profile

Review examples of the test items (PDF) and the list of skills measured to verify that the skills measured are those that the institution seeks to measure. Examine samples of the score reports and statistical reports, to verify that they include the information that the institution needs.

Determining the purpose for testing is especially important when considering which form to use.

• If the institution needs information about individual students, make sure to use the Standard form.
• If the institution doesn’t need data at the individual student level and prefers a shorter testing time, it should use the Abbreviated form.

Additionally, as the needs and priorities of a particular institution evolve, the institution can consider switching from one form to another based on the different benefits each form offers.

While the ETS Proficiency Profile is developed to measure a common core set of skills, judging the appropriateness of the test is an important first step in considering its use. We recommend that faculty members conduct a content review to determine whether the test content and skill area coverage is consistent with your institution's expectations.

To review a copy of the ETS Proficiency Profile, complete the Confidential Review Copy Request Form. Once approved, within 5 to 10 business days, you will receive an email with a link to the test, which can be accessed for 30 days.

Please request as many review copies as necessary — one for each member of your review committee. If your test expires before you have completed the review, contact an ETS Advisor.

The general appropriateness of using the ETS Proficiency Profile to assist in the assessment of the outcomes of general education programs has been established by research studies carried out by ETS and others. ETS Proficiency Profile scores may be appropriate for some other purposes, but it is important for the user to validate their use for those purposes. Departments and programs using the ETS Proficiency Profile are encouraged to collect validity information by conducting their own studies. The ETS Proficiency Profile program staff is available to provide advice on the design of appropriate validation studies without charge.

If the purpose of testing is to make inferences about the performance of groups of students, institutions should test an adequate number of students from each of those groups. The selected students from each group should be representative of the group as a whole. It is best to include all students from each group; however, if you wish to test only a sample:

• include an adequate number of students from each group about which the institution wants information
• select the students in a way that will permit the results to be generalized to the group as a whole
• do not limit the testing to students who volunteer to be tested, unless the institution wants information that applies only to those students.

Assessments of student learning outcomes, such as the ETS Proficiency Profile, are widely used in higher education for accreditation, accountability and strategic planning purposes. Although important to institutions, the assessment results typically bear no obvious consequence for individual test takers. This lack of consequence can have a negative impact on student motivation. If the students are not motivated to do well on the test, their test scores will not reflect their actual skill levels.

ETS encourages institutions to implement strategies to boost student motivation to ensure that test results reflect your students' actual ability. To help with motivation, students taking the standard form of the ETS Proficiency Profile can earn performance-level certificates of achievement and badges. Additionally, some institutions have had success motivating students by explaining how test results are used and how those results can affect the value of their college degree. To learn more about how you can motivate your students to perform their best, contact an ETS Advisor.

The ETS Proficiency Profile measures a specific collection of skills. It does not and cannot measure all the educational outcomes of interest to institutions of higher learning. When the ETS Proficiency Profile is used to evaluate an institution or any of its programs, it should be used in conjunction with other information. It should never be used as the sole means for evaluating the effectiveness of an institution or the educational progress of the students.

Test scores

A test contains only a sample of the tasks that students are expected to be able to do. On another sample of tasks designed to measure the same skills, the students might perform somewhat differently. Information provided on the score reports and in the ETS Proficiency Profile User's Guide (PDF) enables the user of the scores to determine how much the scores could be expected to differ if a different set of tasks were used.

The reliability of the individual scores of students taking the Standard form — particularly the skill area scores and the proficiency classifications — should be adequate for counseling purposes and for the identification of students with problems in particular skill areas. These scores cannot be used as the basis for high-stakes decisions about individual students.

Comparative data

The data in the Comparative Data Guide are drawn entirely from institutions that use the ETS Proficiency Profile. Within any category of institutions, those that use the ETS Proficiency Profile are not likely to be representative of all institutions in that category. In addition, the numbers of students tested and the sampling procedures vary from one institution to another, and it is impossible to verify that the students tested at each institution are representative of all the institution’s students at the relevant class level (freshman, sophomore, etc.).

ETS treats all score data for individuals and for institutions as confidential. Individual data are released only to the institution of the students tested. Identifiable institutional data are released only to the institution providing the data, unless the institution gives written permission to release the information to others. Institutions using the ETS Proficiency Profile should adopt a similar policy for the data from their individual students.