Studies have consistently shown that teachers’ ratings of behavior were predictive of academic difficulties. While research has clearly indicated that behavior has a reciprocal relationship with academic achievement, there is a scarcity of research on the relationship between outcomes on high stakes tests and student behavior. Early identification of children at risk for academic difficulties is vital for successful intervention and remediation. Therefore, this researcher investigated use of a brief behavior screener as a predictor of students at risk for failing a high stakes test. Results from the Behavior Assessment System for Children–Teacher Rating Scale–Child Screener (BASC-TRS-C Screener) provided an assessment of behavior. Georgia’s Criterion Referenced Test – Reading and Math scores provided achievement in reading and math. An analysis of data on 636 second through fifth grade participants revealed a significant inverse relationship between teacher ratings of student behavior and achievement. Thirteen of the fifteen models suggested that teachers’ ratings of behavior indicated with greater accuracy students at risk for academic difficulties than did the model without the behavior ratings. While two models were not significant, they clearly suggested an inverse relationship between behavior and achievement. Logistic Regression analyses suggested that the BASC-TRS-C Screener predicted with 90% accuracy the pass fail classification group associated with the score. The odds ratio suggested that with each point decrease on the BASC-TRS-C Screener score, (in which high scores equal greater behavior concerns) the chances of passing the Criterion Referenced Competency Test reading high stakes test increased by 5%. In the area of math, the odds of passing increased by 6% with each point decrease on the BASC-TRS-C Screener. Other findings suggested that minorities have a significantly greater risk (p < .05) of failing the Criterion Reference Competency Test in the areas of reading, math, or both reading and math than do their same age peers.

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African Americans continue to perform significantly lower on high-stakes measures of educational achievement than do other ethnic groups. Osborn (1997) attributes this low performance by African Americans to their disidentification with the academic discourse. Ickes and Layden (1976), Metalsky, Abramson, and Peterson (1982), Finn (1989), and Belgrave, Johnson, and Carey (1992) relate the poor performance of African Americans to the manner in which they internalize/externalize negative and positive outcomes and the longevity of such outcomes being internalized, which they term locus of control. This study explores the variables of self-esteem, locus of control, test anxiety, reading ability, testing behaviors and the performance of African American males on high-stakes tests of educational achievement. Simultaneously, the study provides a reflection on the challenges faced by a practitioner when he studies an issue of critical concern in his own community. / Ed. D.

Thesis advisor: Dr. Marilyn Cochran-Smith / A healthy democratic society requires citizens with both the knowledge to understand the problems it faces and the dispositions to solve them. Yet recent studies have shown that citizens in the United States are losing the democratic habits required to solve social problems. Moreover, results on standardized assessments in United States history including the National Assessment of Educational Progress bear out the fact that the historical knowledge of typical American high school graduates is woefully lacking (Gaudelli, 2002; Shenkman, 2008). Some blame teachers for failing to teach students meaningful content, and others counter that students' poor performance signals a problem with the test's construction rather than with teachers. This dissertation was designed to inform the debate through a systematic study of the orientations of history and social studies teachers in Massachusetts, the skills and constructs measured by the MCAS-US history test, and the relationship between the two. This study considered the complex relationship between teachers' orientations and the skills and constructs measured on the MCAS-US test via two research designs. First, a survey of Massachusetts history and social studies teachers was conducted to analyze the orientations from which teachers approach the subject. Second, a content analysis of the MCAS-US test was conducted to identify the skills and constructs assessed on the test. Both the survey and the content analysis were carried out through the theoretical lens of democratic pragmatism, and both employed the same framework for understanding the varied ways that history and social studies is taught. Findings point to a very clear misalignment between orientations of history and social studies teachers and the skills and constructs measured by the MCAS-US test. This conjures up an image of a three-legged race where the two participants appear to work against one another. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of the implications of the study, including ways that test developers and history and social studies teachers can make progress toward the shared goal of improving civic knowledge and participation. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

The present study examined the relationships among various learner characteristics and reading achievement, as measured by the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). Using a multiple regression, the independent variables grade, gender, ethnicity, and motivation to read were used to predict the dependent variable, reading achievement. Participants in this study consisted of 585 students from nine elementary, nine middle, and nine high schools across three districts in Florida. Using archival data from a database composed by the Florida Center for Reading Research, the FCAT and Motivation to Read Profile were used to compute reading achievement and motivation to read, respectively. FCAT reading achievement was measured by the participant's Sunshine State Standard score in reading, and motivation to read was measured by student responses on the 4-point likert scale of the Motivation to Read Profile. The findings indicate that grade level and motivation to read were significant positive predictors of FCAT reading achievement, and African American and Hispanic ethnicity status were significant inverse predictors of FCAT reading achievement. African American ethnicity status was the strongest predictor of FCAT reading achievement and motivation to read was the second strongest. Gender and mixed ethnicity status did not significantly predict FCAT reading achievement. Results of this study support the findings of previous research.

The purpose of this study is to understand the lived experience of students taking a high stakes test. The phenomenological method developed by Howard Pollio (Pollio, Graves, and Arfken, 2005, Thomas and Pollio, 2002, Pollio, Henley, and Thompson, 1997) at the University of Tennessee was utilized to explore the perceptions of the experience of fourth and fifth grade students who took the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) Achievement Test, an end of the year criterion-referenced, standardized achievement test given to students in Tennessee. Nine students from two schools in East Tennessee were interviewed about their experience of taking the test. Based on the student’s own words, a Ground and three themes were identified: (Ground) the test as different from other tests; It just felt like another test, but like more important/ weird; (Theme 1) reactions to the actual test: It was kind of hard and kind of easy; (Theme 2) strategies that help you on the test: Yeah, you have to really try hard; and (Theme 3): The purpose of the test: It decides, well, I don’t know, but it seems….. This study shows that asking children about their experience can enlighten our understanding of standardized testing practices that impact test scores schools rely on so heavily to prove their efficacy as an institution. If we are to support our teachers and our schools in this era of high stakes, we should acknowledge the voices of our students who are taking them, and adjust our policy and practices accordingly. Considerations for practice and recommendations are also included.

The level of increased central government that we have experienced during the last decades in school, for the purpose of increasing equality and to adapt the Swedish school to a certain international standard, clearly shows that increased control scarcely leads to improvement. The aim of this paper is to examine whether teachers believe that national tests contribute to equivalent assessment and increased goal attainment. Furthermore the teachers’ attitude towards and work with national tests is described. The paper is written from a school improvement perspective, where good examples from current research on what creates increased quality in school meaning increased goal attainment and equivalent assessment are related to research on school effectiveness and increased testing in schools. The study builds upon a quantitative survey among teachers in upper primary - and secondary school in a medium-sized municipality in Sweden. The result shows that the teachers have a somewhat more positive than negative attitude towards national tests, as a whole. The teachers use the tests in their instruction and they are a part of their planning. The advantages mentioned are the possibilities of showing off good examples, making the curriculum concrete, prepare the students for the test and get guidelines and support in assessment and grading. The teachers in the survey don’t consider the tests giving a full image of the abilities of a student nor do they consider the tests themselves relevant for the student’s learning. The result also shows a certain variation in the attitude of the teachers. Teachers, who have worked the longest period of time, more than 20 years, are those with the best attitude towards the test and their ability to contribute to increased goal attainment and equivalent assessment. Teachers who have worked the shortest period of time are the most skeptical to the positive effects of the tests. The teachers generally consider the tests contributing to equivalent assessment to some degree, but have the least positive stance toward the ability of the tests leading to improved quality meaning increased learning and goal attainment.

Twenty percent of the 2013-2014 sophomore class at a Washington high school was failing high-stakes tests, making these students ineligible to graduate. In an attempt to help students identify their academic proficiency with respect to the Common Core Curricular Standards 9 months before the high-stakes exam, the high school recently introduced the adaptive diagnostic software i-Ready. Cognitive learning theories comprised the framework for this study, which posit that learning is dependent on previous knowledge and central to measuring performance levels. The purpose of this quantitative correlational project study was to examine whether 10th grade students' achievement on i-Ready math scores (N = 220) could predict the subsequent high-stakes mathematics scores on the End of Course Exam while controlling for gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The i-Ready emerged as a statistically significant predictor of the End of Course Exam scores with β = .64 (p < .001), explaining R2 = .43 of the criterion variance. Gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status had no significant moderating influence. The project deliverable as a result of this study was a position paper advising the use of the i-Ready as a predictor for the End of Course Exam at the high school under study. The implications for positive social change include allowing educators to use the i-Ready as an early warning system for students in danger of failing high-stakes exams. This study may help identify students at risk of not graduating who could benefit from instructional support.

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the high-stakes standardized test movement in Texas secondary schools. The method to accomplish this task was to compare the perceptions between Texas secondary school administrators and supporters, critics, and researchers of high-stakes testing. Out of 400 potential respondents randomly selected from 2005-2006 membership list of Texas Association of Secondary School Principals, 178 administrators participated in an electronic survey to rate the extent to which 31 statements derived from supporters, critics, and the unintended consequences of high-stakes testing as reported by researchers in current literature. Means, standard deviations, and frequencies were used to make assumptions about perceptions of secondary administrators. Independent t-tests were conducted to test for possible perception differences between groups identified in the study. Independent groups examined in this study included: Gender (Male and Female), Years of Administrative Experience (1-4 years vs. 15 or More Years), Campus Classification (Large vs. Small), and Current Campus Rating (Exemplary and Recognized vs. Academically Acceptable). Using an alpha level of .05 to establish significance, t-tests suggest that significant differences exist between large and small school administrators on statements 5 and 7. Further, significant differences exist between male and female administrators on statements 4 and 5. The findings of this study seem to suggest that Texas secondary principals strongly support the following statements: 1. No high-stakes decision such as grade retention or graduation should be based on the results of a single test. 2. Educators are making use of student performance data generated by highstakes tests to help them refine programs, channel funding, and identify roots of success. 3. High-stakes tests have helped focus public attention on schools with lowachieving students. 4. The public display of high-stakes test scores motivates administrators. 5. High-stakes testing has resulted in a loss of local control of curricula. 6. The implementation of high-stakes testing has been a catalyst for increased attention to students with special needs. 7. Doing poorly on high-stakes tests does not lead to increased student effort to learn.

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