The Generalizability of the Results of a Standardized Achievement Test.

Sol H. Pelavin, Pierce Barker

Expert InsightsPublished 1976

Since the inception of the Educational Voucher Demonstration in Alum Rock School District, San Jose, California, standardized achievement tests have been a major component of its evaluation. However, the results of the tests have been difficult to interpret. This paper explores the effects of using different levels of the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT) within the same grade. The standard score scale does not permit a student's score on one level of the MAT to be generalized to other levels, even adjacent levels. This suggests that the level of the MAT used in Alum Rock did affect evaluation results. The study shows that had the Alum Rock fifth graders been given the Intermediate level MAT (the level standardized for 5th grade) their mean score would probably have been higher. The study also shows that the type of test administrator (regular teacher, substitute teacher, other teacher) seems to have had little effect on the students' scores, hence did not affect the evaluation results. 18 pp. Ref.

Document Details

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Pelavin, Sol H. and Pierce Barker, The Generalizability of the Results of a Standardized Achievement Test. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1976. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P5678.html.
BibTeX RIS

This publication is part of the RAND paper series. The paper series was a product of RAND from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors' own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. Papers were less formal than reports and did not require rigorous peer review.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.