This paper examines evidence from a performance-pay program implemented in five Little Rock, Arkansas elementary schools between 2004 and 2007. Using a differences-in-differences approach, the evidence shows that students whose teachers were eligible for performance pay made substantially larger test score gains in math, reading, and language than…

This study addresses two questions: (1) Why do fourth grade students in Rhode Island perform better on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) than eighth grade students?, and (2) Why do Rhode Island parochial students perform better on the ITBS than public school students? The examination of both questions focused on three areas: school setting…

The stability of reading performance, as measured by the Metropolitan Achievement Tests, Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, and Iowa Tests of Educational Development, was studied using students in grades 1 through 7 and grades 9 and 11. A reading vocabulary test and a reading comprehension test are included in all three test batteries. The standard…

Prior research has shown that test takers use a variety of strategies when taking passage-based reading comprehension tests. The specific effects that these alternative strategies have on actual examinee test performance are largely unknown. Evidence suggesting that performance differences exist across testing conditions would imply that the…

Three levels of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills were studied to disclose the possible existence of sex bias in mathematics test items. Two mathematics tests (mathematical concepts and mathematics problem solving) and two comparison verbal tests (vocabulary and reading) were selected for analysis at three levels--grades 3, 6, and 8. Samples of 480…

This study addressed the question: Why do parochial school students in Rhode Island tend to perform better than public school students in relation to national norms on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS)? Data for examination of school setting and population factors were collected from interviews with teachers and administrators, a short…

This paper analyzes data from three administrations (spring and fall 1977 and spring 1978) of reading and mathematics achievement tests across grades three through eight. The study asks two major questions: (1) how accurately are students identified for Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I services based upon the first test administration?;…

This research examines the effects of test format on achievement-test performances of Black children. Multiple-choice test items containing distractors (e.g., all correct, all incorrect) penalize Black children, since distractors appear to serve as blocking agents. The results also suggest that distractors encourage guessing. (Author/DOW)

Teachers from the Austin Independent School District were identified as providing exemplary instruction to elementary Hispanic limited English proficient (LEP) students based on a comparison of predicted versus actual achievement scores in reading, language, and math. Predicted performance was based on equations generated by stepwise linear…

In 1990-91, the second year of Alaska's statewide testing program, the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills was administered to 24,684 Alaskan public school students in grades 4, 6, and 8. The nationally normed achievement test covered reading, mathematics, and language arts. Most students in grades 6 and 8 scored above the 50th percentile in all subjects,…

Studied longitudinal changes in performance at both the student and school district level in major content areas of a widely used norm-referenced grade-level testing program. Used data from grades 3 to 4 and from 7 to 8 of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (in Iowa). Reports descriptive statistics and empirical norms and reliability estimates for…

In 1988, the Alaska State Board of Education adopted regulations requiring the selection and annual administration of a basic skills achievement test in reading, mathematics and language arts in grades 4, 6, and 8 for at least 6 consecutive years. During October, 1989. 95%, or 23,372 students in grades 4, 6, and 8 in Alaska's 54 school districts…

To gather longitudinal student achievement data from schools utilizing the four-day week, Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) grade equivalent scores were obtained in 1984 from five rural Colorado school districts for four consecutive years--two years prior to and two years following the districts' change to the shortened week. A first analysis…

This paper argues that the standard "When it is expected that a test will be used to make norm-referenced assessments of groups rather than individuals, normative data based on appropriate group statistics should be provided," which was considered secondary in the 1985 "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" and…

This study was designed to examine the extent to which Illinois Goal Assessment Program (IGAP) constructing meaning scores correlate with Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) reading scores and with performance on ITBS items dealing with literal meaning, inferences, and generalizations. In addition, this study assessed the ability of the IGAP reading…