Improving Student Achievement : What State NAEP Test Scores Tell Us

by Grissmer, David W.

• ISBN13: 9780833025616
• ISBN10: 0833025619
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-07-01
• Publisher: Natl Book Network

Summary

Fifty states, fifty different educational policies and practices. Which practices are best? The authors find that state test scores differ mainly due to population and family characteristics, not because of different schools or policies. This analysis has been long awaited by the 4.1 million educators in the K-12 system nationwide.

Table of Contents

Preface	iii
Figures	xi
Tables	xiii
Summary	xvii
Acknowledgments	xxxvii
Abbreviations	xxxix
Introduction	1	(10)
Rationale for Focusing on State Achievement Results	1	(2)
Potential Barriers to Analyzing State Achievement	3	(3)
Study Objectives	6	(2)
Report Organization	8	(3)
The State NAEP Achievement Results and State Family and Educational Characteristics	11	(12)
NAEP Achievement Tests	11	(3)
State Achievement Results	14	(1)
Differences in Family and Demographic Composition Among States	15	(2)
Family Capital and Social Capital	17	(2)
Differences in State Education Characteristics	19	(4)
Review of the Literature	23	(20)
Evidence from National Educational Resource Growth and Achievement Trends	24	(2)
Previous Studies	26	(11)
Reviews of Nonexperimental Studies	26	(7)
Experimental Data on Class Size	33	(2)
Evidence on Prekindergarten Effects	35	(1)
The Effects of Teacher Characteristics	36	(1)
Specification Implications from Experimental Studies	37	(2)
Reconciling Experimental and Nonexperimental Results	39	(1)
Summary: A New Interpretation of the Empirical Evidence	40	(3)
Methodology	43	(12)
Implications of the Literature for this Analysis	43	(1)
Developing Family Control Variables	44	(3)
The Census-NAEP Family Variables	45	(1)
Composite SES Family Control Variables	46	(1)
Model Specification and Estimation	47	(5)
Annualized Score Gains by State	48	(2)
Score Differences by State for Students from Similar Families	50	(1)
The Effects of Educational Policy and State Characteristics	51	(1)
Cost Estimations	52	(1)
Sensitivity to Outliers	52	(1)
Variable Definitions	52	(3)
Achievement Scores	52	(1)
Family Variables	53	(1)
Educational Measures	53	(2)
Trends in State Scores	55	(10)
Testing for Evidence of the Effects of Reform	55	(1)
Results	56	(9)
Estimated Gains Across All Participating States	56	(2)
Estimated Annual Gains by State	58	(7)
Estimating Scores Across States for Students from Similar Families	65	(10)
Background and Rationale	65	(2)
Results	67	(3)
Texas Versus California	70	(5)
Effects of State Educational Policies	75	(10)
Results for Educational Policy and Characteristics Variables	75	(3)
Per-Pupil Expenditure Model	75	(1)
Resource-Utilization Model	76	(2)
Teacher Characteristics Model	78	(1)
Effects of Interaction Terms	78	(2)
Testing Correspondence with Tennessee	80	(2)
Sensitivity to Outliers	82	(1)
Explaining Texas-California Differences	82	(3)
Assessing the Cost-Effectiveness of Different Resource Utilizations	85	(10)
Previous Cost-Effectiveness Measurements	85	(2)
Estimating Cost-Effectiveness from Our Equations	87	(6)
Caveats and Caution	93	(2)
Conclusions	95	(20)
Methodological Considerations and Interpretation of the Results of Different Models	95	(2)
Results	97	(4)
Evidence for the Effects of Reform	99	(1)
Scores for Students from Similar Family Backgrounds	100	(1)
The Effects and Cost-Effectiveness of Resources	100	(1)
Interpretations	101	(7)
Improving American Education	101	(3)
Interpreting the Effects of Teacher Salary and Teacher Working Conditions	104	(4)
Research Implications	108	(4)
Experimentation	108	(1)
Improving Nonexperimental Analysis	108	(2)
Building Theories	110	(1)
Improving NAEP Data	111	(1)
Limitations and Caution	112	(3)
Appendix A State NAEP Test Scores and State Family and Educational System Characteristics	115	(26)
Appendix B NAEP Exclusion and Participation Rates	141	(12)
Appendix C Sources of Bias	153	(12)
Appendix D The Tennessee Experiment	165	(10)
Appendix E Family Variable Development	175	(12)
Appendix F Variable Definitions	187	(10)
Appendix G Statistical Results for Estimating State Trends	197	(28)
Appendix H Statistical Results for Estimating Score Differences for Students from Similar Families Across States	225	(6)
Appendix I Statistical Results for Estimating Effects of State Policy and Educational Characteristics	231	(18)
Appendix J Robust Regression Results	249	(4)
Appendix K Making Cost-Effectiveness Estimates from the Tennessee Class-Size Experiment	253	(2)
Appendix L Regression Cost Estimates	255	(2)
Bibliography	257