The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between participation in high school varsity sports and academic achievement and how such relationship may be affected by participating in multiple varsity sports. End-of-course Math and English scaled scores from the California Standards Tests of eleventh-graders along with comparative accumulative grade point averages at the beginning and end of year were gathered and correlated to the number of varsity sports played. The level of sports involvement was categorized by participation in one varsity sport, two varsity sports, or three varsity sports. The differences between males and females were evaluated as well. The hypothesis was that a positive relationship exists between high school varsity sports participation and academic achievement, and such relationship is increased by the number of varsity sports students participate in. The participants in the study were students in five California high schools: Atwater, Buhach Colony, Golden Valley, Livingston, and Merced. The sampling method used was captive and purposive. Pearson Moment correlation was used to determine relationships in the study, and analysis of variance of a single sample was conducted using SPSS. It was found that there was a significant, positive relationship between Math scores and the number of sports played; however, such a relationship was not found between English scores and number of sports played. There was also a significant, positive relationship between accumulative GPA and number of sports played. The benefits of participation were more pronounced for female athletes than for male athletes. Schools and parents can take these results into account when making recommendations to students concerning participation in varsity sports.

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The pressure to perform on standardized tests in the United States has become intense. Increased accountability has caused principals to think about their perceptions of standardized testing with regard to accountability measures, test validity, use of test data, impact of testing on the curriculum, and stress related to testing. The purpose of this study was to investigate kindergarten- through 12th-grade principals' perceptions of standardized testing. The study included 91 principals of Title I and nonTitle I schools located in 8 rural East Tennessee school districts. Data were gathered using a survey instrument to determine principals' opinions of standardized testing. There were 4 predictor (independent) variables in this study: Title I status of the school measured by status (Title I school and nonTitle I school), gender predictor variable, predictor variable of highest degree earned by principals (master's, specialist, and doctorate), and predictor variable of experience in current position (1-6 years, 7-14 years, and 15-39 years). The data analysis focused on 5 dimensions of standardized testing. The 5 (dependent) variables were: (a) general impact-accountability, (b) validity of standardized tests, (c) use of standardized tests in individualizing instruction, (d) impact on curriculum, and (e) stress related to standardized testing. The findings reflected that in general, principals had a positive view of standardized testing; however, the study showed that there was agreement among principals that standardized testing has limitations, particularly in the area of fairness to ethnic groups. The research indicated that principals use test data in many ways to improve their schools. Regardless of Title I status, gender, highest degree earned, and years of experience in current position, there were no significant differences in principals' opinions of standardized testing regarding the 5 dimensions of standardized testing.

The summer after Amanda S. Frasier left K-12 teaching to return to high education, she received an email stating that her students’ end-of-year assessments were in. When she looked at the scores, she was pleased to see they had done so well, even though she questions the value of standardized accountability measures and didn’t learn anything new from the results. Frasier discusses why these scores are not helpful and advocates more meaningful measures.

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This musical, arts-based educational research describes the lived experiences of four K-12 New Orleans educators who believe that end-of-year standardized tests hinder their ability to teach in ways they believe are best. Using songwriting as a form of data elicitation and narrative restorying, this study documents the lived experiences of teachers who have experienced test-related cognitive dissonance. While curricular narrowing and other test-related practices have been studied in many contexts, the perspectives of New Orleans teachers are barely documented. Thus, this study fills a content gap in the testing literature. Musically restorying the data contributes to the accountability literature in three main ways. First, restorying the data as song renders the findings evocatively — that is, in ways that capture the emotion with which the data was originally imbued. Second, because this study is performative (the results were sung live in the community), the opportunity exists to ignite a local conversation aimed at helping teachers navigate testing/teaching conundrums. Finally, as music is one of the least utilized forms of art-based research, this study fills a methodological gap in the arts-based research repository.

There is a national need to increase the STEM-related workforce. Among factors leading towards STEM careers include the number of advanced high school mathematics and science courses students complete. Florida’s enrollment patterns in STEM-related Advanced Placement (AP) courses, however, reveal that only a small percentage of students enroll into these classes. Therefore, screening tools are needed to find more students for these courses, who are academically ready, yet have not been identified. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which scores from a national standardized test, Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test/ National Merit Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), in conjunction with and compared to a state-mandated standardized test, Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), are related to selected AP exam performance in Seminole County Public Schools. An ex post facto correlational study was conducted using 6,189 student records from the 2010 - 2012 academic years. Multiple regression analyses using simultaneous Full Model testing showed differential moderate to strong relationships between scores in eight of the nine AP courses (i.e., Biology, Environmental Science, Chemistry, Physics B, Physics C Electrical, Physics C Mechanical, Statistics, Calculus AB and BC) examined. For example, the significant unique contribution to overall variance in AP scores was a linear combination of PSAT Math (M), Critical Reading (CR) and FCAT Reading (R) for Biology and Environmental Science. Moderate relationships for Chemistry included a linear combination of PSAT M, W (Writing) and FCAT M; a combination of FCAT M and PSAT M was most significantly associated with Calculus AB performance. These findings have implications for both research and practice. FCAT scores, in conjunction with PSAT scores, can potentially be used for specific STEM-related AP courses, as part of a systematic approach towards AP course identification and placement. For courses with moderate to strong relationships, validation studies and development of expectancy tables, which estimate the probability of successful performance on these AP exams, are recommended. Also, findings established a need to examine other related research issues including, but not limited to, extensive longitudinal studies and analyses of other available or prospective standardized test scores.

La littérature scientifique révèle que les résultats in vitro sur les matériaux dentaires ont une faible corrélation avec le comportement clinique. Les tests standardisés aux normes fournissent des informations précieuses et pertinentes sur les propriétés des matériaux dentaires, et permettent aussi de comparer les résultats de différents instituts. Cependant, le développement de nouveaux matériaux à partir de nouvelles formulations chimiques nécessite une amélioration des méthodes d'évaluation. Ce travail de recherche est réalisé dans le but d'approfondir les connaissances sur les méthodes d'évaluation des matériaux dentaires avant insertion dans la cavité buccale. Une grande importance a été donnée au choix des matériaux à tester ; nous nous sommes basés sur les dernières tendances actuelles et les derniers développements de composition de matériaux dentaires. La même importance a été donnée à des méthodes et des techniques d'essai au laboratoire ; leur corrélation avec les résultats cliniques a été mise en évidence. Les modifications apportées à la méthodologie de ces tests ont exploré davantage les aspects cachés des différentes interactions de paramètres. La caractérisation et l'évaluation des matériaux dentaires nécessitaient une meilleure compréhension de l'interaction entre les différentes propriétés pour expliquer le vieillissement des matériaux. Notre travail a consisté à combiner de nombreuses études pour répondre à ce sujet. Les études ont porté sur les propriétés mécaniques et physiques, le composite fibré et Bulk, les matériaux CAM CAD, les adhésifs dentaires, le choc thermique et le cyclage thermique, le bisphénol A. L'objectif final était de développer un simulateur oral qui permettrait la reproduction de différents paramètres chimiques, physiques et mécaniques de l'environnement buccal, permettant ainsi de combler l'écart entre les tests in vitro et in vivo de matériaux dentaires / Scientific literature reveals that in vitro results are poorly correlated to materials clinical behavior. ISO standardized testing provides valuable information about the dental materials properties, and enables result comparison between different institutes. Conversely, new materials chemistry and formulations requires improved methodology and testing methods. Throughout our studies included in this work, the main objective was to reach a more global knowledge of the way dental materials are evaluated before being inserted into the oral cavity. A great deal of emphasis was given to the choice of materials to be tested, and that it would represent the current trends in dental practice and the latest developments in material composition. Equal highlight was given to the choice of testing methodology and laboratory testing techniques and their correlation to the clinical outcome. The modifications made to the methodology of these tests explored further the concealed aspects of different parameter interactions. Dental materials characterization and assessment required more understanding about the interaction between different properties to explain material aging; our work was to combine numerous studies to answer this topic. The studies included mechanical and physical properties, bulk and fiber composite, CAD CAM block materials, dental resin adhesive, thermal shock and thermal cycling, Bisphenol A. The final objective was to develop an oral simulator that would enable the reproduction of different chemical, physical and mechanical parameters of the oral environment, thus permitting to bridge the gap between in vitro and in vivo testing of dental materials

Stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995) refers to the risk of confirming a negative stereotype about one’s group in a particular performance domain. The theory assumes that performance in the stereotyped domain is most negatively affected when individuals are more highly identified with the domain in question. As federal law has increased the importance of standardized testing at the elementary level, it can be reasonably hypothesized that the standardized test performance of African American children will be depressed when they are aware of negative societal stereotypes about the academic competence of African Americans. This sequential mixed-methods study investigated whether the standardized testing experiences of African American children in an urban elementary school are related to their level of stereotype awareness. The quantitative phase utilized data from 198 African American children at an urban elementary school. Both ex-post facto and experimental designs were employed. Experimental conditions were diagnostic and non-diagnostic testing experiences. The qualitative phase utilized data from a series of six focus group interviews conducted with a purposefully selected group of 4 African American children. The interview data were supplemented with data from 30 hours of classroom observations. Quantitative findings indicated that the stereotype threat condition evoked by diagnostic testing depresses the reading test performance of stereotype-aware African American children (F[1, 194] = 2.21, p < .01). This was particularly true of students who are most highly domain-identified with reading (F[1, 91] = 19.18, p < .01). Moreover, findings indicated that only stereotype-aware African American children who were highly domain-identified were more likely to experience anxiety in the diagnostic condition (F[1, 91] = 5.97, p < .025). Qualitative findings revealed 4 themes regarding how African American children perceive and experience the factors related to stereotype threat: (1) a narrow perception of education as strictly test preparation, (2) feelings of stress and anxiety related to the state test, (3) concern with what “others” think (racial salience), and (4) stereotypes. A new conceptual model for stereotype threat is presented, and future directions including implications for practice and policy are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to compare the relationship between the mathematics portion of the EXPLORE test with students successes in advanced and Advanced Placement(AP) mathematics courses in high school. The data was collected from a rural Tennessee school system consisting of five years of data among graduated seniors. Analysis was completed to determine the difference between the two county high schools in advanced coursework. The findings of this study concluded a positive correlation between EXPLORE scores and the frequency of students who took advanced mathematics courses. Positive correlation between EXPLORE scores and student successes in advanced courses was also concluded. Two-sample t-test showed the school with the less frequency had a higher mean of successes in advanced mathematics. This school system consistently scored above the national average in the mathematics portion of the EXPLORE test. Ultimately, standardized test results can prove to be a means for guiding students toward challenging mathematics courses.