High Stakes Testing for Tracking, Promotion, and Graduation (1999) / Chapter Skim
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7 Awarding or Withholding High School Diplomas
7 Awarding or Withholding High School Diplomas
Pages 163-187
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From page 163... ...
It is no wonder, then, that the idea of requiring students to pass a test before graduating from high school has great appeal. In the 1970s, several states imple' minted minimum competency testing as a partial requirement for high school graduation.
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From page 164... ...
Thus, as states move toward assessment of more rigorous stanciarcis, there are numerous challenges in the context of graduation testing that remain to be worked out. CURRENT GRADUATION TESTING PRACTICES In most states, students earn high school diplomas by accumulating Carnegie units, which are based on the number of hours spent in class.
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From page 165... ...
4This definition of a minimum competency graduation test is taken from the 1997 AFT report, Making Standards Matter 1997 Art Ar~rrual Fifty'State Report ore Efforts to Raise Academic Standards. The nine states listed in this report as employing minimum competency type graduation tests are Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
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From page 166... ...
LOGIC OF CERTIFICATION DECISIONS High school graduation decisions are inherently certification cieci' signs: the diploma certifies that the student has attained an acceptable level of learning. A test is one of many types of evidence that may be used in certification; to be valid, the test must be an accurate measure of the stucient's degree of mastery of the relevant knowledge and skills (American Educational Research Association et al., 1985: Stanciarc3 8.7; 1 9981.
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From page 167... ...
Should a graduation test be a measure of basic skills, or should it attempt to assess higher~level skills anc3 knowledge? As cliscussec3 earlier, several states that employ graduation tests are moving away from mini' mum competency tests that measure basic skills in a few subject areas, toward tests that measure higher~level skills in several subjects anc3 are aligned with more clemancling content stanciarcis (American Federation of Teachers, 1997~.
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From page 168... ...
Although there are right and wrong ways of setting Outscores, there is no single right answer to the question of where the Outscore should be set on a graduation test or any other test with high stakes for students. This is partly because of the conceptual problems involved in interpret 5In addition, test specifications should include a rationale for the particular weights given to the graduation test s subdomains and show how the actual test items are congruent with both the test specifications and the domain definition "American Educational Research Association et al., 1985 Standards 8.4 to 8.7, 1998; Messick, 1989~.
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From page 169... ...
Concern is also reflected in current psychometric stanciarcis, which recommenc3 that a decision that will have a major impact on a test taker should not be macle solely or automatically on the basis of a single test score, anc3 that other relevant information about the stucient's knowledge anc3 skills should also be taken into ac' count (American Educational Research Association et al., 1985: Stan' ciarc3 8.12; 1998~. This concern affects not only students who fail the test while performing well on other measures, but also those who pass the test, if their poor performance on other measures suggests the need for extra instruction or other interventions (Maciaus, 19831.
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From page 170... ...
on graduation tests, either for political reasons (to prevent backlash against high failure rates) or to increase student motivation (by allowing students the opportunity to earn different types of cliplomas)
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From page 171... ...
Schools that give graduation tests early (sometimes as early as 8th or 9th grade) , however, assume that such tests are diagnostic and that stu' clents who fail can benefit from effective remedial instruction.
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From page 172... ...
This is clearly an important area for future research, to which test users should pay particular attention in validating their testing programs, as well as an issue for policymakers when they are considering whether to administer high-stakes graduation tests. The stuc3ies reported below generally aciciress the impact of minimum competency graduation testing.
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From page 173... ...
Educators explained that the issues sure rounding graduation testing had subsiciec3 markedly over the years. The numbers now being cieniec3 diplomas based on low minimum competency test scores ranged from negligible to none.
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From page 174... ...
conclude that high-stakes graduation tests may give at-risk students "an extra push out the school floor" ~ ~ 989: ~ 461. In an effort to collect more direct evidence of the relationship between minimum competency graduation tests and stuclents' decisions about dropping out, Catterall (1990)
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From page 175... ...
report that failing a minimum competency graduation test significantly increased the likelihood that students would leave school, but only for students who were cloing quell academically. Students with poorer acaciemic records slid not appear to be affected by failing the test, and minority students who failed the test clic3 not demonstrate an increased likelihooc3 of leaving school as a result.
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From page 176... ...
asserts that having a high school diploma, as distinct from having the skills assessed by a minimum competency test, largely determines whether a young person can obtain employment anc3 earn money, as well as the amount of money a person can earn. He bases this conclusion on evidence suggesting that performance on a minimum competency test is not a good predictor of whether a young person will obtain employment or earn a good salary, provided the person receives a high school diploma (Ecklanc3, 1980~.
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From page 177... ...
In abolition, students who fail a gradual tion test should be given multiple opportunities to demonstrate their capabilities through repeated testing with alternate forms, or through other construct~equivalent means. The validity anc3 fairness of score interpretations on a graduation test will be enhanced by taking into account other relevant information about incliviclual students (American Educational Research Association et al., 1985: Stanciarcis 8.4, 8.5, 8.7, 8.8; 1998~.
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From page 178... ...
Curricular coverage refers to how well test items represent the objectives of the curriculum. Instructional preparation is an appraisal of the extent to which schools equip students with the knowledge anc3 skills that the test measures.
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From page 179... ...
Finally, tociay's professional stanciarcis for content in such core ace' ciemic subjects as mathematics anc3 science are much more ciemancling than the minimum competency stanciarcis of the 1970s anc3 1980s (e.g., National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989; National Research Council, 1996~. If a high school graduation test needled to be aligned with these more ambitious content stanciarcis anc3 with actual instruction, the task would be more difficult today than it was in 1981, when Debra P
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From page 180... ...
Compensatory Mocle~ As cliscussec3 earlier, states that use high-stakes graduation tests typically require students to complete all their course work satisfactorily and to pass the graduation testis) (Phillips, 1991; Council of Chief State School Officers, 19981.
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From page 181... ...
Connecticut recently implemented a gracle 10 assessment that at' taches a certificate of mastery to students' high school diplomas if they meet the state goals. Students have the option of retaking the assessment in gracies 11 anc3 12 to earn the certificate.
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From page 182... ...
Early Intervention and Remeclial Instruction As noted earlier, the rates at which students fail minimum compel tency graduation exams has declined over the years, in part because states anc3 school districts administer the test early (often in the 10th gracie or earlier) , provide multiple opportunities for students to retake the testis)
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From page 183... ...
REFERENCES American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and National Council on Measurement in Education 1985 Standards for Educational arid Psychological Testing. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
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From page 184... ...
1980 Sociodemographic implications of minimum competency testing. In Mirlimum Competency Achievement Testing: Motives, Models, Measures, arid Corlsequerlces, Richard M
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From page 185... ...
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April, San Diego. 1998b Validating inferences from National Assessment of Educational Progress achievement-level setting.
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From page 186... ...
Government Printing Office. National Coalition of Advocates for Students 1998 A Gathering Storm: How Palm Beach County Schools Fail Poor arid Minority Children.
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From page 187... ...
1996 Eighth Grade Minimum Competency Testing and Early High School Dropout Patterns. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Assocation, New York, April.
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