Development of the Texas Oral Proficiency Test (TOPT). Final Report

Development and validation of the Texas Oral Proficiency Test (TOPT) is described. The TOPT, a simulated oral proficiency interview, was developed in French and Spanish as a test of speech skills to be used by the state as part of its certification testing program for French, Spanish, and bilingual education teachers. An introductory chapter provides background information, beginning with the history leading to the test's development and concluding with a description of the test itself. The second chapter describes a survey to establish the job relevance of the test in each of the three teaching areas. The third chapter chronicles the development of the trial form of the TOPT. Chapter four describes the trial process, including the purpose, recruiting examinees, adminstration and data collection, and the results of examinee data forms and judge sheets. Development of the final form is outlined in chapter five, and content validation is addressed in the sixth chapter. The final chapter describes how passing score standards for the TOPT were set through three separate studies. Appended materials, which form the bulk of the document, include the survey instruments, response, evaluation, rating forms, data on trialing examinees, item ratings and sample comments, and related documents. (MSE)