No significant difference in beginning ninth-grade pretest compared to ending ninth-grade posttest comparisons of American History t(17) = 0.34, p = 0.37 (one-tailed), d = 0.09, English t(17) = 1.40, p = 0.09 (one-tailed), d = 0.34, and Biology (t(17) = -1.58, p = 0.07 (one-tailed), d = -0.22, course grade scores were observed for students…

The teacher's task of assigning letter grades to students and the public's interpretation of them can be perplexing. Does the student's grade represent the level of achievement, the gain in achievement, or some combination of the two? Is the student's effort included in the grade, or are high achievers given good marks regardless of effort? Are…

Examines the use of grade versus goal level reading material on curriculum-based measurement (CBM) progress-monitoring procedures. Students were administered CBM reading passage probes from both grade and goal level material. Rate of progress was indexed in each level of materials. Results indicate that the amount of progress observed varied as a…

Individual schools can assess the progress of their students using equivalent achievement test scores in subject areas at grade levels, between grade levels, and across subgroups of students. A demonstration of this procedure is presented. (Editor)

This report investigates the equivalence of grades in multisection courses. Ten courses at Indiana University were identified for this study from many undergraduate, multisection courses offered in the fall semester, 1971. An attempt was made to select courses from every school with several from a variety of departments in Arts and Sciences. For…

A study attempted to measure the academic gain resulting from 150 hours of mandatory participation in the Mandatory Functional Literacy (MFL) program. The Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) was administered to 58 inmates at Lake Correctional Institution (Florida) prior to beginning the MFL program and again upon completion of the required…

Questions that parents, students, and teachers have frequently asked about the meaning of grade equivalent scores are answered, and implications for gifted students are considered. Facts concerning achievement test scores, content, and the norm group are indicated. (SEW)

Five possible interpretations are given of very high correlations between scores on successively administered ability tests in a longitudinal sample of approximately 7,000 public school students tested in grades 5, 7, 9, and 11. At each of the four grades, students were given the appropriate level of the Sequential Test of Education Progress…

One of the most subtle but viciously effective cultural mechanisms for harming children in the United States is the persistent confusion between norms and standards. Investigates what can be done to prevent unrealistic and invidious labeling of children during their most vulberable years if their growth curve in achievement or some other factor…

Examines the effort to accurately measure the changes in student achievement under school reform. The article discusses the need for value-added indicators of school improvement, the need to equate and check test scores, the problems with use of grade equivalents for assessing school improvement, and citywide trends in achievement. (GLR)

The advantages and disadvantages of grade equivalent (GE) scores are explored, including appropriate uses for GE type scores and how to bring current GE scales closer to the type of information educators appear to desire. Although GE scores are not an equal interval scale, not comparable across school subjects, and do not indicate the grade level…

The performance of pupils, individual schools, and the Wichita Public School System is depicted in a quantitative report of the results of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) administered as part of the system's basic testing program. The ITBS battery measured vocabulary, reading, language, work-study and mathematics skills and results are given…

Students in four history classes were administered the Reading Progress Scale, form 5C (1975), to determine if scores would identify students who would have difficulty with coursework. Using multiple regression analysis, the scale accounted for only 8% of grade variance. While the complete sample chi square was significant, individual classes…

An instrument to measure attitude toward the learning of French as a second language (ALFS) was developed. Instruments already developed to measure motivational intensity and orientations (instrumental and integrative) were modified to fit the local situation. The experimental subjects were 100 students from grades 7 and 8. Twenty-five students…

Developmental standard score scales produce unrealistic expectations for growth of low-achieving students only if the low-achieving students are tested in an inappropriate way. Examples illustrate the unrealistic nature of such score scales when applied to the testing of learning disabled and Chapter One students. (SLD)