The Impact of High-Stakes Testing in Chicago on Student Achievement in Promotional Gate Grades

Abstract

This article analyzes the impact of high-stakes testing in Chicago on student achievement in grades targeted for promotional decisions. Using a three-level Hierarchical Linear Model, we estimate achievement value added in gate grades (test-score increases over and above that predicted from a student’s prior growth trajectory) for successive cohorts of students and derive policy effects by comparing value added pre- and postpolicy. Test scores in these grades increased substantially following the introduction of high-stakes testing. The effects are larger in the 6th and 8th grades and smaller in the 3rd grade in reading. Effects are also larger in previously low-achieving schools. In reading, students with low skills experienced the largest improvement in learning gains in the year prior to testing, while students with skills closer to their grade level experienced the greatest benefits in mathematics.

Investigating Middle School Determinants of High School Achievement and Graduation in Three California School Districts

“…This includes structural features of schools -public/ private (Bryk and Thum 1989) and size (Roderick et al 2002), which are associated with differences in completion rates. School resources, such as pupil/teacher ratio, and school policies, such as disciplinary practices, attendance rates, academic programs and climate in schools contribute to differences in dropout rates (Rumberger 2004(Rumberger , 2011.…”

Instructional Leadership Challenges: The Case of Using Student Achievement Information for Instructional Improvement

“…Yet the leadership issues faced are evident across the globe. Irrespective of country, raising the achievement of students from minority and indigenous groups (e.g., Roderick, Jacob, & Bryk, 2002), impacting on teachers' expectations of that achievement (e.g., Delpit, 1995), and skills in data analysis and use (e.g., Earl & Katz, 2003) pervade the research literature. School leaders are asked to do much more than before when developing the capacity of staff to improve instruction and student achievement.…”

Achievement at whose expense? A literature review of test-based grade retention policies in U.S. school

“…Testing has been shown to help teachers identify students' needs and motivate teachers and students to work harder (Finnigan & Gross, 2007). In both teacher and test-based retention programs that incorporate interventions, students have shown to make short-term academic gains (Greene & Winters, 2007;Lorence et al, 2002;McCombs et al, 2009;Roderick et al, 2002;Winters & Greene, 2006;). These programs appear to be popular and motivate the majority of at-risk students to work harder (Roderick & Engel, 2001;Stone & Jacob, 2005).…”

“…The high stakes also appeared to increase the support these students received from teachers and the time students spent studying outside of school. Roderick, Jacob, and Bryk (2002) found that the test scores in gateway grades in Chicago increased substantially when the high-stakes testing policies began, although the effects were larger for the sixth and eighth grades than for the third. Sixth-and eighth-grade gains were approximately one third to one half of a year's learning gain; results were less conclusive in third grade where policy effects were smaller in reading and less consistent across years.…”