ERIC Number: EJ1178813
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-May
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-189X
EISSN: N/A
How Much Do Test Scores Vary among School Districts? New Estimates Using Population Data, 2009-2015
Fahle, Erin M.; Reardon, Sean F.
Educational Researcher, v47 n4 p221-234 May 2018
This paper provides the first population-based evidence on how much standardized test scores vary among public school districts within each state and how segregation explains that variation. Using estimates based on roughly 300 million test score records in math and English Language Arts (ELA) for Grades 3 through 8 from every U.S. public school district during the 2008-09 to 2014-15 school years, we estimate intraclass correlations (ICCs) as a measure of between-district variation. We characterize the variation in the ICCs across states as well as the patterns in the ICCs over subjects, grades, and cohorts. Further, we investigate the relationship between the ICCs and measures of racial and socioeconomic segregation. We find that between-district variation is greatest, on average, in states with high levels of both White-Black and economic segregation.
Descriptors: School Districts, Scores, Academic Achievement, Population Groups, Evidence, Standardized Tests, Mathematics Achievement, Language Arts, Elementary School Students, Middle School Students, Public Schools, Annual Reports, Comparative Analysis, Trend Analysis, Hierarchical Linear Modeling, Correlation, Statistical Analysis
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Middle Schools; Secondary Education; Junior High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305D110018; R305B090016