Change and Continuity in Grades 3-5: Effects of Poverty and Grade on Standardized Test Scores

Autor/in	Burross, Heidi Legg
Titel	Change and Continuity in Grades 3-5: Effects of Poverty and Grade on Standardized Test Scores
Quelle	In: Teachers College Record, 110 (2008) 11, S.2464-2474 (11 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1467-9620
Schlagwörter	Educational Policy; Educational Change; School Restructuring; Poverty; Standardized Tests; Achievement Gains; Achievement Tests; Grade 5; Grade 4; Grade 3; Instructional Program Divisions; Longitudinal Studies; Disadvantaged Schools; Arizona + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Bildungsreform; Schulreformplan; Schulumwandlung; Armut; Standadised tests; Standardisierter Test; Achievement gain; Leistungssteigerung; Achievement test; Achievement; Testing; Test; Tests; Leistungsbeurteilung; Leistungsüberprüfung; Leistung; Testdurchführung; Testen; School year 05; 5. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 05; School year 04; 4. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 04; School year 03; 3. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 03; Longitudinal study; Longitudinal method; Longitudinal methods; Längsschnittuntersuchung
Abstract	Background/Context: The question of the influence of Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) on achievement is an important one because many policy makers use achievement scores as the measure of success for schools, classrooms, and students. Research has demonstrated that high-poverty schools have less experienced teachers and access to fewer resources than do low- and moderate-poverty schools. Interest in fourth-grade achievement has been minimal both in research and in legislation. Research Question: Do these CSR schools make gains that would not be expected without the funding and programs? Another question examined here is whether there is a decrease in performance at fourth grade. Population: The population consists of third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade student data from 65 schools. Research Design: Data from the state's norm-referenced TerraNova test and Stanford Achievement Test, and the criterion-referenced Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) from the years 2000-2007 for the samples were compared over time and between groups. Conclusions: These limited data indicate that there were occasional, observable performance decreases on student standardized test scores from third to fourth grade that often recovered somewhat in Grade 5. Because of problems with making cross-year and cross-grade comparisons using the AIMS scores, the "fourth-grade window" hypothesis could not be reliably inspected with the data available. Although gains were shown for schools that received CSR funding, their gains were similar to both high- and low-poverty schools that received no funding. Fluctuations in yearly performances may be more of an artifact of changes in test design and scoring than of student improvements. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Teachers College, Columbia University. P.O. Box 103, 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027. Tel: 212-678-3774; Fax: 212-678-6619; e-mail: tcr@tc.edu; Web site: http://www.tcrecord.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10