Elementary school students often misinterpret the equal sign (=) as an operational rather than a relational symbol. Such misunderstanding is problematic because solving equations with missing numbers may be important for the development of higher order mathematics skills, including solving word problems. Research indicates equal-sign instruction…

This paper profiles the student subgroup achievement and gap trends in Iowa for 2010. In grade 8 (the only grade in which subgroup trends were analyzed by achievement level), Iowa had data for racial/ethnic subgroups, low income students, and boys and girls at the proficient and advanced levels. Trends at the proficient and advanced levels were…

The No Child Left Behind Act imposes sanctions on schools if the fraction of each of five racial groups of students demonstrating proficiency on a high stakes exam falls below a statewide pass rate. This system places pressure on school administrators to redirect educational resources from groups of students most likely to demonstrate proficiency…

Student achievement as reflected in standardized test scores is not a unitary construct, but a set of interdependent components representing degrees of knowledge of various subject areas. The interdependency of achievement components imply a positive feedback process. Weaknesses in one area reinforce weaknesses in others; strengths in one area…

The reliabilities of 6 item bias indices and correlations among them were investigated for each of the 11 tests of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). The difficulty and delta indices detected group differences in relative item difficulty. Biserial and point biserial indices detected group differences in item discrimination. The Scheuneman and…

This study investigated whether individual change over time in mathematics and language differs from student to student and whether individual parameters of each of these domains were related within domain. The study also attempted to gain an understanding of individual change in student academic achievement through the application of one of the…

In spring 1986 Anglo students received higher scores than Blacks or Hispanics on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), on all subtests and at all grade levels in the Denver (Colorado) Public Schools. This study, by attempting to locate patterns of item response, seeks to identify items in the ITBS that suggest differential pupil achievement by…

The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills were administered to over 600 black and white students in grades six through nine, to determine if the test showed bias against minorities. Outliers were identified from test results. Outliers are items which differ from the central core of test items because they fall outside the range expected from a random…

In the spring of 1992, all students in the elementary schools and middle schools of the Cherry Creek Schools (Colorado) participated in Read-On Write-On (ROWO). A random sample of 20 percent of the 3,542 papers from grades 1-8) from each school was collected and sent to the Assessment and Evaluation Office for scoring. Each paper (above grade 1)…