A total of 520 high school students were randomly assigned to a paper-and-pencil test (PPT), a computerized standard test (CST), or a computerized adaptive test (CAT) version of the Dutch School Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ), consisting of ordinal polytomous items. The CST administered items in the same order as the PPT. The CAT administered all…

Each year when the Educational Testing Services releases state average SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) scores of high school students, Indiana officials are asked why Indiana ranks so low and what's being done to improve it. Leaders reply that scores are lower because more students take the test than in states with higher scores. This report…

The issue of parallel forms is of paramount importance for producers of standardized tests. With increasing emphasis being placed on standardized test results it is necessary that each student achieve the same standard score regardless of the form he or she was administered. In the case of the American College Testing (ACT) Assessment Program,…

Written for college-bound Navajo high school seniors and dedicated to all Native Americans, this guide presents information relative to preparation for college entrance. The following topics are discussed in detail: (1) choosing a college (financial help, college major, college size, the minority population at college, community size, and personal…

Presents a review of requirements for exit examinations for high school seniors and a discussion of the disadvantages and alternatives to the exams. (Author/HMV)

This book examines research on the problem of student dropouts and standardized and high stakes testing. Information comes from papers presented at a 2000 workshop in which experts offered their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. Section 1 describes the background and context of the problem, noting changing expectations for students,…

This paper discusses the rationale behind and uses of high stakes testing. Much of the support for high stakes testing comes from a desire to boost student achievement by increasing student and teacher motivation to do well. There are many disadvantages to high stakes testing, including inappropriate use of the test, inadequate test development,…

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's Talent Development High School comprehensive reform model addresses low student achievement and poor school climate, blending a common core academic curriculum with career themes in the upper grades. It includes a separate Ninth Grade Success Academy with interdisciplinary teacher teams, ninth and tenth grade Career…

During the 4-year period from 1995 to 1999, the mean mathematical and reading achievement scores of 11th graders at Slippery Rock Area High School (SRAHS) reflect a distinct decline. In the 1995-1996 school year, the SRAHS 11th grade standardized mathematics mean score was significantly higher than the Pennsylvania mean, as was the standardized…

Since the publication of the highly influential "Coleman Report" of 1966, researchers have tried to find inputs, such as school quality, that are associated with student achievement on standardized tests, but have found little. This study finds an underlying association between Scholastic Aptitude Test scores and several measures of…

Examined the relationship between mental rotation ability and gender differences in Scholastic Aptitude Test-Math (SAT-M) performance among 760 talented preadolescents, college students, and high- and low-ability college-bound youths. Males outperformed females in both mental rotation and SAT-M for all three high-ability groups but not for the…

In this report we explore the role of reviewer agreement in judgments about alignment between tests and standards. Specifically, we consider approaches to describing alignment that incorporate reviewer agreement information in different ways. The essential questions were whether and how taking into account reviewer agreement changes the picture of…

The Hawaii Learning Project (HALP) has produced an Algebra I curriculum that stresses student learning through problem solving, communication, connections, development over time, and challenging tasks. The HALP curriculum is used by more than 16,000 students in 13 states. Scores on standardized algebra tests for HALP graduates have been about the…

This investigation revives direct impact explanations of single-parent effects on student performance by further disagreggation by sex of the student. The effect of living in a single-parent household on the standardized test scores of students was estimated separately for males and females through analyses of data from the High School and Beyond…

A joint program between Cuyahoga Community College and Links, Inc., a national organization of black women dedicated to civic, cultural, and educational activities, was implemented to help improve the test-taking skills of inner-city high school students and to help them build the skills needed to succeed in postsecondary education. A pilot school…