There were declines on achievement tests between 1972 and 1980. This study, the first part of A Study of High School Excellence, was designed to document changes in the achievement of high school seniors between 1972 and 1980, to identify the school and student factors related to these changes, and to examine the policy implications of the…

The current New Jersey high school graduation law requires that students pass a ninth grade test in reading, writing, and mathematics. Equating the writing test from year to year to be sure that passing scores remain identical, regardless of the test form administered, requires developing a scoring technique. A research study was developed based…

Nearly 15,000 students were administered the Alaska Statewide Assessment Test--virtually all fourth and eighth grade students. Preliminary results indicated that eighth graders made substantial improvements in both reading and mathematics performance. Fourth grade scores were basically unchanged since 1983. There was also little change between…

This paper explores various procedures of panel data in the estimation of causal models. The reported analyses are from the Monitoring the Future study, a nationwide questionnaire survey of 16,000 to 17,000 high school seniors conducted annually since 1975. First, the parameters of causal models are estimated in which the dependent variables are…

This paper examines how various equating methods are affected by: (1) sampling error; (2) sample characteristics; and (3) characteristics of anchor test items. It reviews empirical studies that investigated the invariance of equating transformations, and it discusses empirical and simulation studies that focus on how the properties of anchor tests…

The evaluation of the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools' Summer Program focused on academic achievement of its students, grades K-8, who participated in 1985. Courses included arts and crafts as well as basic and remedial instruction in reading, mathematics, and language. The achievement gains of summer school students were compared to the whole…

Previous research with the large, nationally representative High School and Beyond data has compared senior year achievement test scores for public and Catholic high school students after controlling for background variables and sophomore year test scores. These analyses, however, were based on traditional applications of multiple regression with…

This guide describes the background of the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS) program, objectives, and tests. It is designed to assist school personnel in reading and comprehending the student information contained in student performance data included in TABS reports. TABS is a criterion-referenced measure for assessment of student…

The economic impact of optimal selection using ability tests is far higher than is commonly known. For small organizations, dollar savings from higher productivity can run into millions of dollars a year. This report estimates the potential savings to the Federal Government as an employer as being 15.61 billion dollars per year if tests were given…

This study examined the psychometric characteristics of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) administered under special conditions for nine handicapped groups. Four psychometric characteristics were studied: level of test performance, test reliability, speededness, and extent of unexpected differential item performance. Psychometric comparisons were…

The Penn Manor CRT/Curriculum Articulation Project was designed to study the impact of the implementation of four specific interventions on the achievement of elementary school students in mathematics and language arts. The interventions were as follows: (1) classroom teachers were given individual curriculum skill objectives for their grade…

In the spring of 1985, the Oregon Department of Education conducted an assessment of eighth graders' skills in writing, reading, and mathematics. The state reading test consisted of two parts: the first designed to measure students' inferential and evaluative reading comprehension and selected study skills, the second designed to measure students'…

This report documents the 1985-86 Title VII Program of the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. Major findings indicated the following: (1) three program components--staff training, tutoring, and curriculum development--were implemented as planned; (2) the staff training component included a series of English as a Second Language…

The logic of using a gain score approach versus longitudinal causal models is studied in this secondary analysis of a complex data base. The gain score model used by the Federal Reserve Bank and the School District of Philadelphia in their "What Works in Reading?" study is successively refined using the LISREL structural equation…

This report contains the average verbal, mathematical, and combined Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores for several racial/ethnic groups for the nine-year period from 1976 through 1984. The study specifically identifies the following racial/ethnic groups: American Indians, Blacks, Mexican Americans, Orientals, Puerto Ricans, and Whites. It is…