Tracking Test Scores to Address Educational Accountability Standards in a Public School System

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Tracking Test Scores to Address Educational
Accountability Standards in a Public School
System
Faculty Sponsor George Tremblay, Ph.D.
Antioch University New England
Michael Duffin Program Evaluation and Educational
Research Associates, Inc.
Student Author Megan Phillips Antioch University
New England
Poster presented at the New England Psychological
Association Annual Meeting October 21, 2006
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Acknowledgements

• This project was undertaken with the support of
  the Place-Based Education Evaluation
  Collaborative (PEEC). More information about
  PEEC can be found at http//www.peecworks.org/
• The data presented here were collected as part of
  an evaluation conducted by Program Evaluation and
  Educational Research Assocaites, Inc., under the
  supervision of Michael Duffin.

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INTRODUCTION

• Place-based education is an innovative approach
  to teaching that uses interdisciplinary curricula
  in local natural and built environments. Antioch
  New England Institutes Community-based School
  Environmental Education (CO-SEED) Project strives
  to
• expose students to hands-on, real-world learning
  experiences
• enhance academic engagement
• strengthen community ties
• promote appreciation for the natural world
• increase citizenship among students

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INTRODUCTION

• Given current pressure on schools to meet
  standards for educational accountability,
  educators are understandably eager to demonstrate
  that innovative programs, whatever other benefits
  they may offer, do not detract from student
  performance on standardized achievement tests.
• This study describes one aspect of an evaluation
  of the CO-SEED curriculum in a New Hampshire
  public school, comparing longitudinal trends in
  standardized test performance for the District
  versus the State.
• The CO-SEED program was introduced in Gorham
  Elementary School in the spring of 1998 on a
  whole school scale.

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METHOD Research Design

• To compare student academic achievement before
  and after the introduction of CO-SEED, students
  were grouped into eight sequential cohorts.
  Cohorts 1-4 completed their Grade 3 testing prior
  to the introduction of the CO-SEED program only
  those in Cohort 1 completed their Grade 6 testing
  prior to CO-SEED.

Cohort Grade 3 Grade 6
Cohort 1 1993-1994 1996-1997
Cohort 2 1994-1995 1997-1998
Cohort 3 1995-1996 1998-1999
Cohort 4 1996-1997 1999-2000
Cohort 5 1997-1998 2000-2001
Cohort 6 1998-1999 2001-2002
Cohort 7 1999-2000 2002-2003
Cohort 8 2000-2001 2003-2004
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METHOD Measurement

• Test scores from the New Hampshire Educational
  Improvement and Assessment Program (NHEIAP) were
  obtained through the New Hampshire Department of
  Educations website and from published reports
  available through the New Hampshire Department of
  Education.
• The most consistent measure of student
  achievement across all academic years was the
  proportion of students scoring at each of four
  proficiency levels Novice, Basic, Proficient,
  and Advanced. Because adequate yearly progress is
  measured according to the proportion of students
  who fall at Basic or above proficiency levels,
  for purposes of this analysis the Basic,
  Proficient, and Advanced levels were combined
  into one category labeled Passing. Of
  particular interest to us was the migration of
  students into categories representing greater or
  lesser proficiency, between the standardized
  assessments in Grade 3 and Grade 6. For 1997 and
  later, we also had access to Gorhams test score
  rank in the State.

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RESULTS

• Local Versus State Trends in Proficiency
  Categories

• At the State level, we see a downward migration
  of students from the Passing category into the
  Novice category as they progress from Grades 3 to
  6.
• Gorham shows the opposite pattern. This pattern
  was present from Cohort 1, before the
  introduction of CO-SEED, and continued through
  Cohort 8.

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RESULTS (cont.)

• Changes in Gorham State Rank from Grade 3 to
  Grade 6

• A noticeable pattern of improvement in state rank
  between Grades 3 and 6 was seen in cohorts for
  which state rank data were available (Cohorts
  4-7 academic years 1997-98 through 2003-04).
  Each cohort made a large leap in state rank in
  both Language Arts and Math.

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RESULTS (cont.)

• However, data from the pre-CO-SEED academic year
  (1997-98) showed that the pattern of dramatic
  increase in state rank from Grade 3 to Grade 6
  may have existed prior to the introduction of
  CO-SEED, suggesting that the trend may not be
  CO-SEED specific.

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DISCUSSION

• The data demonstrate remarkably consistent and
  impressive trends in Gorham students
  achievement, using State norms as a benchmark,
  between Grades 3 and 6. While the typical pattern
  across the State is for students to migrate from
  Passing proficiency categories into the Novice
  category, Gorham students are moving in the
  opposite direction.

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DISCUSSION (cont.)

• Although interviews with administrators,
  educators, and students attest to an important
  role for CO-SEED in Gorhams achievement, the
  data presented here reveal that this trend
  pre-dated the introduction of CO-SEED, and thus
  must be at least in part due to some pre-existing
  attributes of this school system.
• While these results do not support CO-SEED as a
  sole factor responsible for the observed increase
  in student achievement in Gorham, the curriculum
  does not appear to be detrimental to student
  performance on state assessments. Because CO-SEED
  is a highly experiential and non-traditional
  curriculum, this result is important in light of
  the current political climates emphasis on
  accountability for educational programming.