Considered by many as a source of valuable data and a potential to improve mathematics education, a significant amount of studies have been conducted on The National Assessment Program -- Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) test results. This study is a systematic literature review of 86 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2008 and 2017 to…

With the demand for a demonstration of continuous progress as an accountability gauge in public schools, teachers are compelled to examine assessment data for each of their pupils. This data analysis, in turn, should help teachers gauge their instructional practices and differentiate instruction so that all can reach proficient levels of…

Standardized tests are devised to sort students out, comparing them on a scale from high to low, not to discover what students know. Thus, results of standardized tests are misleading in representing the achievements of educational programs and in comparing one school or school system with another. Criterion tests, however, measure directly and…

Ninety teachers in grades three through six were asked to judge the likelihood of their students' passing Ohio's Fourth or Sixth Grade Proficiency Tests. Judgment ratings consisted of "likely to pass,""uncertain to pass," or "unlikely to pass." These ratings were collected in January 1998, 3 months prior to the…

The perceptions of various educators (N=495) of the effectiveness of practices related to the dissemination of the results from their schools' standardized testing programs were collected and analyzed. Contrary to what might have been expected from prior research, these educators rated the effectiveness of their schools' performance in…

In 1988, Congress mandated a national longitudinal evaluation of the effects of the Title I program on students' academic achievement and classroom behavior. This paper presents an overview of the study design, analysis methods, and impact results for student achievement. The analysis used four types of designs to assess the impact of Title I: (1)…

The author asserts that using pupil test scores to evaluate teachers is unacceptable because teachers cannot control differences in student background and out-of-school influences that affect test performance. This article consists of excerpts from the author's presentation at the New Jersey Education Association's Symposium on Teacher Evaluation.…

This paper outlines a methodology that school districts can use to enhance the presentation of district-wide testing program results to administrators, school boards, teachers, and the public. Based on John Tukey's two way analysis methodology, it involves fitting this model: test score equals overall plus year plus grade plus cohort plus…

The accuracy of statistics based on performance assessments that represent percentages of students reaching standards is explored using data from a large-scale performance assessment, the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program. Results with students in grades 3, 5, and 8 support the accuracy of pooling results to produce the statistics.…

The uses and misuses of standardized test results used for program evaluation as seen by a staff member of an Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I Technical Assistance Center are described. In ESEA Title I, test scores are used to select students for the program. Although federal requirements do not require using standardized test…

A national sample of 3,300 elementary and secondary school teachers, who had recently administered the Metropolitan Achievement Tests in their classrooms, responded to a questionnaire concerning various standardized achievement test issues. Teachers gave their opinion on: the amount of such testing in their schools; personal use of test results;…

Valid interpretation of test scores is the shared responsibility of the test designer and the test user. Test publishers must provide evidence of the validity of the decisions their tests are intended to support, while test users are responsible for analyzing this evidence and subsequently using the test in the manner indicated by the publisher.…

Scores on standardized tests may be expressed in a variety of different modes. Raw scores, grade equivalents, percentile ranks, stanines, and standard scores are the major types in use today. The study investigated whether the mode or scale used to express scores affected the magnitude of group statistics, specifically, t and r (the t-test of the…

The 1983 report "A Nation At Risk" catapulted teaching and learning issues to the forefront of public concern. However, In spite of the findings of the National Commission on Excellence in Education, U.S. students and college graduates continue to fare well when their knowledge is tested postgraduation, and there is no evidence of a…

Data from the 1980 and 1982 High School and Beyond Surveys are used to compare the achievement of immigrant and native students in high school. The study examines effects of generation and duration of residence in the United States on improvement in students' performance on standardized tests over a 2-year period beginning with the year the…