Four commercial test preparation programs were evaluated for their effectiveness in increasing scores of elementary school student on standardized multiple-choice tests. Focus was on determining whether: formal training increases students' test-taking skills, students can generalize the test wiseness strategies to improve their scores on…

A set of 10 attitudinal items from the 1985 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was administered to 131 fifth graders who had taken the Iowa Test of Basic Skills to determine the relationship between reading achievement and attitudes. Complete, appropriate data were available for 114 students. Teachers' responses to selected NAEP…

A SERIES OF STUDIES SOUGHT TO ASCERTAIN (1) INTER- AND INTRA-RATER RELIABILITY FOR THE HARRIS-GOODENOUGH DRAW-A-MAN TEST, (2) DRAW-A-MAN (DAM) VALIDITY, AND DRAW-A-WOMAN (DAW) VALIDITY. THE DRAWINGS OF 72 STUDENTS IN AN UPPER MIDDLE CLASS WERE SCORED INDEPENDENTLY BY TWO SELF-TAUGHT SCORERS, ONE OF WHOM ALSO RESCORED THE TEST A WEEK LATER. THE…

The No Child Left Behind Act imposes sanctions on schools if the fraction of each of five racial groups of students demonstrating proficiency on a high stakes exam falls below a statewide pass rate. This system places pressure on school administrators to redirect educational resources from groups of students most likely to demonstrate proficiency…

Studied was the effect of advance organizers, as defined by Ausubel, on the learning of concepts in science. Sixth grade classes studied two sequences of major concept-centered learning tasks developed by the investigator. The first had 12 lessons about energy forms and transformations; the second had five about photosynthesis and respiration as…

This general achievement trends profile includes information that the Center on Education Policy (CEP) and the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) obtained from states from fall 2008 through April 2009. Included herein are: (1) Bullet points summarizing key findings about achievement trends in that state at three performance…

This study investigated how the 1998 Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) achievement test scores of retained students in third grade (15% of students tested), sixth grade (10%), and eighth grade (4.6%) affect the citywide results in those grades and in subsequent grades. In third, sixth, and eighth grades, when the scores of retained students are…

Prior research has shown that test takers use a variety of strategies when taking passage-based reading comprehension tests. The specific effects that these alternative strategies have on actual examinee test performance are largely unknown. Evidence suggesting that performance differences exist across testing conditions would imply that the…

A study was conducted to determine which of five tests used in the Early Prevention of School Failure (EPSF) program were the best predictors of student academic success at the end of first grade. The tests, which were administered upon children's entrance to kindergarten, were the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), the Preschool Language…

Presents a comparative review of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills--Mathematics and the Stanford Diagnostic Mathematics Test. Performance of fifth- and sixth-grade students (N=548) on the two batteries was also compared. Results indicated the two tests measure essentially the same mathematics skills. (JAC)

Examined the impact of elementary school students' participation in test interpretation on teachers' and students' attitudes toward the tests. Results showed students who participated in the interpretation session felt they had done better on the test. Most teachers reported positive attitudes toward the program. (JAC)

This report tracks student performance on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) in the Chicago Public Schools' (CPS) elementary schools in 2001. To make valid cross-year comparisons, this update adjusts statistics reported by the CPS by establishing a common procedure over time for including bilingual education students. Test scores are tracked by…

Four equating methods were compared using four equating criteria: first-order equity (FOE), second-order equity (SOE), conditional mean squared error (CMSE) difference, and the equipercentile equating property. The four methods were: (1) three parameter logistic (3PL) model true score equating; (2) 3PL observed score equating; (3) beta 4 true…

With reports that some of the nation's finest universities have been handing out A's like lollipops at Halloween, the lowering of standards in higher education has become a hot topic. But grading standards in primary and secondary education have received remarkably less attention. There are two major questions related to grading standards. First,…

This study focused on the predictive validity of fluency measures that comprise Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). Data were gathered from first through third graders attending 44 schools in 9 districts or local educational agencies that made up the first Reading First cohort in Michigan. Students were administered DIBELS…