Administrative data are increasingly being used to study inequalities in education. Yet a well-known difficulty with such resources is the limited information they hold. A commonly used proxy for children coming from a low-income background is their eligibility for free school meals, yet this is likely to be of little use in measuring academic…

Magnet schools have been a main tool or innovation in urban education settings in the United States, originating in the early 1970's and expanding into most large urban districts today (Blank, 1989). While some magnet schools do not rely on a specific criterion to determine entry, many do. This study focuses on such a setting where students must…

The ranking of the United States in major international tests such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is used as the driving force and rationale for the current educational reforms in the United…

Few arguments about education are as effective at galvanizing public attention and motivating political action as those that compare the performance of students with their counterparts in other countries and that connect academic achievement to economic performance. Because data from international large-scale assessments (ILSA) have a powerful…

Despite decades of research and debate, the issue of unequal outcomes continues to be a concern in educational systems worldwide. In England, published data relating to pupils' attainment across ethnic groups and by class indicators has been used to demonstrate continued inequalities in schools. This article attempts to deconstruct the…

Investigated the external validity of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability (WJTCA) in learning disabled (LD) elementary school children (N=60). Results suggested that the WJTCA's achievement emphasis jeopardizes its validity for assessing and classifying LD students within the currently accepted and mandated ability-achievement…

Correlations among measures of college outcomes were examined using 118 college students. Instruments studied were the College Outcome Measures Program; the Educational Testing Service Academic Profile; the Defining Issues Test; and the author-developed Sophomore Assessment Project Questionnaire. Commonly used measures tap similar outcome…

The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Revised (PPVT-R) and the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) (reading, mathematics, and language subtests) were administered to 61 elementary school students in semi-rural Louisiana. Moderate positive correlations were found between PPVT-R scores and all CTBS subtests except mathematics computation. (GDC)

This research, with 366 ninth-graders, determines (a) how three self-concept measures relate to each other; (b) the relationships these selected global and specific self-concept measures have to two indices of academic achievement; and (c) the significance of differences among these self-concept-academic achievement correlations. (Author)

Reports correlations between the High School Personality Questionnaire and various indices of school achievement and compares the validities with prior studies. Uses three achievement scores: self-reported high-school grades, parent-reported high-school grades several years after the testing, and college grades several years after the testing. The…

Examine the predictive validity of Kaufman's short form of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities for 74 Mexican-American children. Comparisons between the McCarthy General Cognitive Index (GCI) and Kaufman's estimated CGI with academic achievement showed that the conventional McCarthy and Kaufman's short form predicted achievement about…

In September 2005 the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) in association with the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), the Sutton Trust and the College Board, began a five-year research study to examine the validity of an aptitude test in higher education admissions. This report describes and explores the relationships…

Results indicate that the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) is a valid predictor of achievement for children referred for learning disabilities. The verbal Scale IQ, and the Freedom from Distractibility IQ proved especially useful predictors of academic achievement. (JAC)

As part of an effort to develop strategies for measuring institutional effectiveness, a study was conducted at West Virginia University at Parkersburg (WVU-P), a two-year institution with an enrollment of nearly 4,000 students, to determine the most appropriate instrument for measuring gains in general education between incoming freshman (i.e.,…

The Stanford-Binet: Fourth Edition and Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children were administered in counterbalanced order followed by the Cognitive Domain of the Battelle Developmental Inventory to a sample of 30 nonhandicapped, preschool children (13 males and 17 females). Correlations (corrected for restriction in range) among the three…