Transition Competence Battery

The Transition Competence Battery (TCB) is one of the few assessment tools designed specifically to measure the transition skills of non-college bound deaf adolescents. The TCB is made up of 6 subtests, all presented on video in conceptually accurate Pidgin Sign English, addressing both independent living and employment content areas. Each subtest contains 20-33 items. The TCB has been field tested with over 300 deaf adolescents and young adults representing sites across the country. Reliability of each subtest has been established, and preliminary validity studies have been conducted.

While the response to the TCB was enthusiastic, it had a major drawback. At the heart of the development of the TCB is its accessibility to students who rely on sign communication to receive information. This was accomplished with the video presentation accompanying a written test booklet. However, in a group administration this means that some students must wait for others to finish answering each question before the next question waspresented. This had several drawbacks for the test takers:

Our research comparing group with individual administration showed that although the psychometrics produced by group administration were within acceptable limits, the psychometric properties improved with individual administration. This translates into educators obtaining more accurate information about student ability from their performance on the instrument.

The purpose of this project was to develop a computerized administration of the TCB, maintaining the video presentation, that tailored the test to the individual student. Item Response Theory (IRT) is a statistical technique that allowed us to determine, among other parameters, the difficulty of each item based on the information gained from our nationwide standardization data. The information gained from the IRT analysis was used to write a computer program that, based on the student's correct or incorrect response to the current question, would choose the next appropriate item to present to that student. An incorrect response lead to a less difficult item, a correct response lead to a more difficult item. This process, known as Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) results in

1) increased efficiency in testing since fewer item responses are required to maximize confidence in the estimated ability level,
2) individual pacing so that students can work at their own speed (which can also be measured for assessment information),
3) an increased interest level for the student as only items of appropriate difficulty are used, and
4) immediate scoring and reporting via a computerized printout of the results.

As with the TCB, the results of the testing can be used in developing IEPs and ITPs.

Authors

Research and development of the Transition Competence Battery (TCB), Mini TCB, and Computerized Adaptive Testing Version of the TCB (CAT-TCB) conducted by:

Michael Bullis & Paul Yovanoff
University of Oregon;
Eugene, Oregon

John Reiman, Cheryl Davis, & Annette Leonard
Western Oregon University
Monmouth, Oregon

Petra Rose
Signing Talent
Salt Lake City, Utah

Funded in part through grants from the U.S. Department of Education.

Selected TCB Publications

Bullis, M., Davis, C., Bull, B., & Johnson, B. (1997). Expectations versus realities: Examination of the transition plans and experiences of adolescents who are deaf and adolescents who are hearing. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 40, 251-264.

Bullis, M., Davis, C., Bull, B., & Johnson, B. (1995). Transition achievement among young adults with deafness: What variables relate to success? Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 39, 130-150.

Bullis, M., & Reiman, J. (1992). Development and preliminary psychometric characteristics of the Transition Competence Battery for Deaf Adolescents and Young Adults. Exceptional Children, 59, 12-26.

Bullis, M., Reiman, J., Davis, C., & Reid, C. (1997). National field-test of the mini version of the Transition Competence Battery for Deaf Adolescents and Young Adults. The Journal of Special Education, 31, 347-361.

Bullis, M., Reiman, J., Reid, C., & Davis, C. (1995). Preliminary examination of the "mini" version of the Transition Competence Battery for Deaf Adolescents and Young Adults. Assessment in Rehabilitation and Exceptionality, 2, 179-196.

Bullis, M. & Yovanoff, P. (2005). Final Report: Field-testing and validation of a computer assisted testing procedure for the Transition Competence Battery for Deaf Adolescents and Young Adults. College of Education, University of Oregon: Eugene.