This report presents the results of the third administration of the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP). These results are part of a long-term effort to gather data on the educational progress of Delaware students and to use the data to inform decisions about instruction. Reading, writing, and mathematics results are summarized in this report;…

Trends in the achievement gap between black and white students on Delaware state assessments were studied for 1993 to 2001 for reading and mathematics for grades 3, 5, 8, and 10, and patterns of academic achievement toward the standards were studied for black and white students from grades 3 to grade 5 and from grade 8 to grade 10 in reading and…

This report compares students' scores on the 2000 Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP) writing assessment with the writing scores of their counterparts in 1998 and 1999. In addition, the results of a writing study are discussed briefly. Delaware students in grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 took the 2000 DSTP writing assessment, responding to a text-based…

A study was conducted to investigate how differential item functioning (DIF) is associated with student characteristics such as gender and ethnicity for the total group and to understand the pattern and nature of existing group differences by conducting DIF analyses separately within gender and ethnicity. The research is unique in that it…

A study investigated possible reasons for the low performance in 2000 on the writing portion of the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP) by students, especially in grades 3 and 5. The study also investigated ways to improve classroom instruction in writing. A panel of teachers reviewed the anchor papers and the process of testing. Panel members…

The results in this report, from the fifth administration of the grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 reading, mathematics, and writing portions of the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP), represent an important step in Delawares efforts to educate all students to a higher level. Reading, mathematics, and writing data for grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 are…

This document contains the results of a standard setting conducted between August 2 and August 12, 1999, on the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP) Mathematics, Reading, and Writing subtests at grades 3, 5, 8, and 10. At the standard setting, judges were asked to recommend only the cut point between "Below the Standard" and…

The purpose of this writing sampler is to familiarize Delaware teachers and students with the major writing portion of the Delaware Student Testing Program. Included for each grade level (3, 5, 8, and 10) are the original prompt and an example of exemplary student work. Although the intent was to include student work for each of the rubric score…

This guide contains information to help teachers understand and use reports from the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP). The DSTP is designed to be a measure of progress toward Delaware's content standards that helps ensure that students can apply their academic skills to realistic, everyday problems. The DSTP aims to promote better…

The purpose of this writing sampler is to provide teachers and students with work representing each of the rubric score points for the stand alone writing prompt on the 2001 Delaware Student Testing Program. The student papers included in this document are part of the "anchor sets" (collections of scored student work "anchored"…

The purpose of this reading sampler is to familiarize Delaware teachers and students with the reading comprehension portion of the Delaware Student Testing Program. Included is information about the reading tests for grades 3, 5, 8, and 10. This sampler contains the following examples for each grade level: a reading passage; a multiple choice…