Learners with disabilities enter school without the prerequisite numeracy and mathematics skills to perform at or near the level of their typically developing peers. Even simple addition problems require prerequisite skills that are often not taught directly in schools. Identifying and teaching those missing skills would reduce the learning gap…

The ongoing literacy crisis in the U.S. highlights an urgent need for effective, scalable literacy instruction. REED Charitable Foundation (RCF) is a non-profit organization that provides structured literacy training informed by Orton-Gillingham, along with ongoing professional coaching and comprehensive implementation support to help all students…

Changes to state tests impact the ability of State Education Agencies (SEAs) to monitor change in performance over time. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Standardized Performance Growth Index (PGIz), a proposed statistical model for measuring change in student and school performance, across transitions in tests. The PGIz is a…

This "Practitioner's Guide to Growth Models," commissioned by the Technical Issues in Large-Scale Assessment (TILSA) and Accountability Systems & Reporting (ASR), collaboratives of the "Council of Chief State School Officers," describes different ways to calculate student academic growth and to make judgments about the…

The tenability of the equipercentile growth assumption was investigated. This assumption is the basis of the norm referenced evaluation model (Model A) for Title I program evaluations, and supposes that a cohort of students, given no special educational intervention, will maintain the same percentile rank over the course of a school year, as…

The feasibility of combining criterion-referenced and norm-referenced tests into a school achievement test score to be used for school effectiveness classification was studied with 361 elementary schools across 2 years and across a subsample of 264 schools. Results support combining scores of different tests to measure school effectiveness. (SLD)

Twelve tests of reading and math at the elementary level are classified according to a model which makes a distinction between criterion and domain tests. Score reporting and item analysis techniques are discussed. It is argued that most objectives-referenced tests do not specify their domains sufficiently to make interpretations more general than…

With the increasing globalization of human resources practices, a commensurate increase in demand has occurred for multi-language ("global") personality norms for use in selection and development efforts. The combination of data from multiple translations of a personality assessment into a single norm engenders error from multiple sources. This…

Normative data reported by publishers of the California Achievement Test, the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, and the SRA Assessment Survey were used to illustrate a procedure for specifying goals for Title I programs in terms of normal curve equivalent (NCE) gains. The procedure was based on the amount of growth reflected in student reading…

This paper examines the development and evaluation of criterion-referenced measures, and elaborates on the distinction between them and norm-referenced measures. The concept of sensitivity is introduced as an appropriate method for evaluating such measures, and a sensitivity index is proposed. The traditional model for the response of a subject to…

Distinct multiple regression models are discussed, along with issues and problems related to their application to the practical problem of identifying effective schools. Statistical results obtained from the application of each model are discussed. The first model was implemented in 1984, and the second in 1992. In 1984, it was decided to identify…

A procedure is demonstrated for constructing tables showing, for each score on a commercial reading achievement test, the percentage of real-world materials that the testee is likely to comprehend with at least a criterion level of proficiency, the percentages of students in a local or national sample who can competently comprehend a given…