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ACTandEOC1
RunningHead:ACTandEOC
PREDICTINGACTSCORESFROMENGLISHIIEND‐OF‐COURSEEXAM
By
KATHERINEKIMBLE
Submittedto
TheEducationalLeadershipFaculty
NorthwestMissouriStateUniversityMissouri
DepartmentofEducationalLeadership
CollegeofEducationandHumanServices
Maryville,MO64468
SubmittedinFulfillmentfortheRequirementsfor
81‐693ResearchPaper
Fall2012
July20,2013
ACTandEOC2
ABSTRACT
ThepurposeofthestudywastodetermineiftheEnglishIIEnd‐of‐Coursestate
assessmenthasapredictivepowerfortheACTreadingsubscore.Thecurrenteducational
environmentisgovernedbyexcessiveamountsofstateandnationalassessments.
Studentsfeelpressuretoperformwellonassessmentsthatdetermineacceptancetohigher
education.Thefindingsofthisstudyshouldincreasestudentmotivationtoutilizescores
fromthemandatedstateassessmenttobetterpreparefortheACT.Theresultofthestudy
indicatesthatasignificantpredictivepowerexistsbetweenEnglishIIEnd‐of‐Coursescores
andACTreadingsubscores.Thestudyalsoindicatesthatasignificantpredictivepower
exitsbetweenEnglishIIEnd‐of‐CoursescoresandACTcompositescores.
ACTandEOC3
INTRODUCTIONTOSTUDY
Background,Issues,andConcerns
Mandatedstateandnationalassessmentsarecurrentlyasubstantialpartofpublic
education.UnderNoChildLeftBehind(NCLB),stateandnationalassessmentsareusedto
determineteachereffectivenessandstudentspreparednessforhighereducationand
vocation.Somestatesareevenusingstateandnationalassessmentstoevaluateteacher
tenureanddeterminesalarycompensation.Inatimeofhigh‐stakestests,thepowerto
predictstudents’scorescouldbeconstructive.
TheMissouriAssessmentProgram“assessesstudents’progresstowardsmasteryof
theShow‐MeStandards,whicharetheeducationalstandardsinMissouri”(Missouri
DepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducation,2011,para.1).Missouri’sstate
assessmentisknownatthehighschoollevelastheEnd‐of‐Course(EOC)exam.Missouri
EOCassessmentsarerequired“inthesubjectareasofAlgebraI,Biology,EnglishII,and
Government.Beginningwiththeclassof2016,AmericanHistoryandEnglishIarealso
required.”(MissouriDepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducation,2011,para.1)
AllpubliceducationstudentsarerequiredtotaketheEOCexamsunlessastudenthasan
IndividualizedEducationalPlan(IEP)whoseteamdeterminedthattheMAP‐Aisasuitable
replacement,anEnglishLanguageLearner(ELL)studenthasbeenintheUnitedStatesfor
12monthsorless,oraforeignexchangestudent.ThescoresfromtheEOCexamsareused
todetermineaschool’sadequateyearlyprogresstowardsproficiency,whichissetby
Missouri’sDepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducation.
TheAmericanCollegeTesting(ACT)was“introducedin1959asacompetitortothe
SAT”(Atkinson&Geiser,2009,p.665).Manyuniversityandcollegeadmissionsrequirean
ACTandEOC4
ACTscoretodeterminecollege‐readinessofapplicants.Althoughhighschoolgrade‐point‐
averageisusedtodetermineacceptanceintomosthighereducationinstitutions,anACT
scorecanofferstudentsautomaticacceptancebecausemosthighereducationinstitutions
viewtheassessmentasimpartialandcomprehensive.SincetheACTusesabellcurve
distribution,studentsareforcedtocompeteagainstoneanothertoattainasuccessful
score.ContentassessedontheACTisalignedtoCollegeandCareerReadinessStandards
andisusedtopredictsuccessincollege‐levelcourses(Conrad‐Curry,2011).
PracticeUnderInvestigation
AllstudentsinthestateofMissouriarerequiredtocompleteanEnd‐of‐Course
assessmentaftercompletingEnglishII.Moststudentswhoareinterestedinattending
highereducationarerequiredtotakeanadmissionsexam,typicallyeitherACTorSAT.
SchoolPolicytobeInformedbyStudy
ShouldapredictivepowerbefoundbetweentheEnglishIIEnd‐of‐Courseandthe
readingACTsubtest,educatorsandstudentscouldusetheinformationpresentedbythe
state‐requiredEOCexamtobetterpreparefortheACT.
ConceptualUnderpinningsfortheStudy
Modern‐dayeducatorsarepulledinseveraldifferentdirectionsregardingstate‐
mandatedandnationalassessments.Studentsareconstantlybombardedwithtesting.For
example,intheSaintJosephSchoolDistrict,sophomorestudentsenrolledin
CommunicationArts10arerequiredtotakefourdistrictbenchmarksandonestate
assessment,notincludingclassroomunittests.Inthewordsofa10th‐gradestudent:“The
worstpartabouttestingistherearesomanytestsinsuchasmalltimeframe,thatit
becomesimpossibletoexcelinallareas(T.Catron,personalcommunication,May7,
ACTandEOC5
2013)”.End‐of‐Courseexamsdictatestateaccreditationandfunding;however,thescores
arenotrecordedonstudents’transcripts.MakingtheEOCexamrelevanttostudentsisa
difficultbutimportanttasksincestatefundingistiedtothetestscores.Essentially,the
EOCshouldevaluateastudent’smasteryoftheCommunicationArts10curriculum;
therefore,materialthatistestedontheEnglishIIEOCshouldalsobeapplicableontheACT
exam.TheACTexamisarelevantassessmentforstudentssinceitaffectscollege
acceptanceandscholarshipacquiescence.IftheresultsoftheEnglishEOChavepredictive
powerfortheACT,thenstudentswillhaveabetterunderstandingoftheirprogress
towardscollege‐readinessandwillbeabletotargetareasofimprovement.Studentscan
usetheinformationtoplanfuturecourse‐workandschoolscanusetheinformationto
assignremedialreadingprogramsoradvancedcourses.
StatementoftheProblem
Inrecentyears,educatorshavebeenunderescalatingpressuretoincreasestudent
testscoresonstateandnationalassessments.Thishascreatedatrickle‐downeffect.
StudentshavealsofeltthepressuretoincreaseACTtestscoresduetorigorousuniversity‐
acceptanceandscholarshiprequirements.Ontopofthemountingmandatedassessments,
teachersfacethedifficultyofmeetingthedemandsofthestandardssetbyNoChildLeft
BehindandanewnationalcurriculumknownastheCommonCoreStateStandards.
Understandingifapredictivepowerexitsbetweenthestate‐mandateEnglishIIEnd‐of‐
CourseandtheACTexam,allowsteachersandstudentstoworktogethertomeeteach
child’sacademicneeds.
ACTandEOC6
PurposeoftheStudy
ThepurposeofthestudyistodeterminethecorrelationbetweenEnglishIIEnd‐of‐
CoursescoresandthereadingsubscoreoftheACTassessment.Inthisstudy,therearetwo
variablesmeasured.TheindependentvariablewillbetheEnglishIIEnd‐of‐Courseexam
scorestakenduringthesophomoreyearofhighschool.Thedependentvariablewillbethe
mostrecentrecordedreadingsubscoreoftheACTassessment.
ResearchQuestion
Inthisstudy,thereisoneresearchquestion.
RQ:DoestheEnglishIIEnd‐ofCourseassessmenthaveapredictivepowerforthe
ACTreadingsubscore?
NullHypothesis
H0.TheEnglishIIEnd‐of‐Courseassessmentdoesnothavepredictivepowerforthe
ACTreadingsubscore.
AnticipatedBenefitsoftheStudy
TheresultofthisstudywilldeterminethepredictivepowerbetweentheEnglishII
End‐of‐CourseresultsandthereadingsubscoreoftheACTassessment.
DefinitionofTerms
Arepresentationofkeyterminologyusedthroughouttheresearchstudy.
End‐of‐Course(EOC)‐ExamcreatedbytheMissouriAssessmentProgramthatassessesthe
masteryofShow‐MeStandards.TheEOCassessmentisgiventohighschoolstudents
enrolledinAlgebraI,Biology,EnglishII,andGovernment.(MissouriDepartmentof
ElementaryandSecondaryEducation,2011)
ACTandEOC7
AmericanCollegeTest(ACT)‐AmericanCollegeTestingProgramassessmentintroducedin
1959toensureacademicpreparationforhighereducation
NoChildLeftBehind(NCLB)‐TheElementaryandSecondaryEducationActwasamended
byCongressin2002andreauthorizedunderthenewnameofNoChildLeftBehind
ElementaryandSecondaryEducationAct(ESEA)‐Thebillwaspassedin1965aspartof
PresidentLyndonB.Johnson’s“WaronPoverty”
DESE‐MissouriDepartmentofSecondaryandElementaryEducation
Summary
Modern‐dayeducatorsandstudentsfaceabarrageofrequiredassessments.Under
NoChildLeftBehind,studentsarerequiredtocompletestateassessments.Missouri’s
DepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducationmandatesstudentscompleteanEnd‐
of‐Courseassessmentformostcoresubjects.AfterthecompletionofsophomoreEnglish,
studentsarerequiredtocompletetheEnglishIIEnd‐of‐Courseexam.TheACTandSATare
popularcollege‐acceptanceexams;however,theACTisthemostcommonamonghigher
educationalinstitutionslocatedintheMidwest.SincetheEnglishIIEOCisrequiredforall
studentswhoattendpubliceducationinMissouri,theresultscouldbeusedtobetter
preparestudentsfortheACTandunderstandtargetedareasneededforimprovementto
meetcollege‐readinessstandards.Theprimarypurposeofthestudyistodeterminethe
predictivepoweroftheEnglishIIEnd‐of‐CourseexamtothereadingsubscoreoftheACT
assessment.
ACTandEOC8
REVIEWOFLITERATURE
TheElementaryandSecondaryEducationAct(ESEA)wasintroducedduring
PresidentLyndonB.Johnson’s“WaronPoverty”andpassedin1965(Elementaryand
SecondaryEducationAct,2013).AccordingtoJeffrey(1972),theprinciplecontribution
behindthe“WaronPoverty”thatledtoafederaleducationalbillwasthat“inadequate
educationandpoverty”weredirectlylinked.BeforetheElementaryandSecondary
EducationAct,verylittlefocuswasgiventoeducationatthefederallevel;mosteducational
decisionswereleftuptostatesandgoverningbodiesofschooldistricts(Elementaryand
SecondaryEducationAct,2013).Duetothelackoffederalgovernmentregulation,there
wereseveraldiscrepanciesbetweentheeducationstudentswerereceivingwhen
comparedbystates.ThepassageoftheElementaryandSecondaryEducationActensured
thecreationofnationaleducationalstandardsandtheabilitytoholddistrictsaccountable
(ElementaryandSecondaryEducationAct,2013).
In2002,theElementaryandSecondaryEducationActwasamendedand
reauthorizedunderanewname,NoChildLeftBehind(ElementaryandSecondary
EducationAct,2013).Congresswasunsatisfiedwiththelackofadvancementofpublic
education;therefore,arevivedframeworkwascreatedunderNCLBtoquickenthe
progresstomeetnationalstandards(Hall,2013).NoChildLeftBehind(NCLB)
substantiatedthebeliefthat“publiceducationrequiresafederalpresencetoensure
academicprogressandacademicequalityforallstudents”(Schmidt,2008,p.8).The
reauthorizationofNCLBwidenedthemeansforpubliceducation’saccountabilitytoensure
thatstudents,atthepointofhighschoolgraduation,wouldmeetcareer‐and‐college‐
readinessstandards.NCLBmeasuredtheprogressofstudents,whilebreakingdowndata
ACTandEOC9
bygroups:white,black,Indian,Hispanic,Asian,low‐income,andEnglish‐languagelearners.
AccordingtoHall(2013),theaccountabilityprovidedunderNCLBwas“notjustaground‐
breakingstepineducationalpolicy,butalsoamajorpieceofcivilrightslegislation”(p.1).
Standardizedtestscoresareusedtodetermineschooldistricts’accountabilityfor
studentachievementundertheNoChildLeftBehindActof2001(High‐StakesTestingand
StudentAchievement).AccordingtoNichols,Glass,andBerliner(2005),“eachstateis
responsibleforconstructinganaccountabilitysystem,attachingconsequences‐orstakes‐
forstudentperformance.Thetheoryofactionimpliedbythisaccountabilityprogramis
thatthepressureofhigh‐stakestestingwillincreasestudentachievement”(p.1).
Missouri’sDepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducation(DESE)createdthe
MissouriAssessmentProgramtosatisfytherequirementsofNCLB.UnderNCLB,statesare
mandatedtoassessandreportscoresfor95%ofthestudentpopulation,includingspecial
educationandEnglish‐languagelearners(Blank,2011).Show‐MeStandardsarethe
educationalstandardsthatareusedbytheMissouriAssessmentProgramtodetermine
grade‐levelproficiency.TheMissouriAssessmentProgram’sexaminationisknownatthe
secondarylevelastheEnd‐of‐Course(EOC)exam,whichisrequiredforAlgebraI,Biology,
EnglishII,andGovernment(MissouriDepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducation,
2011).Basedonindividualstudentgroupsandoverallstudenttestingperformancesonthe
assessment,adequateyearlyprogress(AYP)isdeterminedfortheschool.Aproficiency
objectiveissetbythestateandmustbemetbyeachdemographicstudentgroupforthe
schooltomeetAYP(Blank,2011).
TheAmericanCollegeTestingProgram(ACT)wasintroducedin1959“asa
competitortotheSAT”(Atkinson&Geiser,2009).TheACTandSATarebothwidely
ACTandEOC10
acceptedtodaybyuniversitiesandcollegesasamajordeterminantinthepost‐secondary
educationalacceptanceprocess.AccordingtoConrad‐Curry(2011),theACTisconsidered
asuccessfulpredictorofcollegesuccessand“hasactedasagatekeepertomanyofthe
country’sinstitutionsofhighereducation,especiallyintheMidwest”(p.28).TheACTis
comprisedoffourmultiple‐choicetests:English,Mathematics,Reading,andScience
(DescriptionoftheACT,2013).Thereadingsubtestiscomprisedoffourpassages:Prose
Fiction,SocialScience,Humanities,andNaturalScience.Eachpassagehas10multiple‐
choicequestions;therefore,thereadingtesthasatotalof40multiple‐choicequestionsand
studentshave35minutestocomplete.Scalescoresrangefromabellcurvedistribution
from1to36(Conrad‐Curry,2011).TheACTisconsideredanachievementtestthatassess
whatastudentknowsandcomprehendsfromatypicalhighschoolcurriculum;students
whohavecompletedrigoroushighschoolcourseworkshouldscorethehighestonthe
exam(WhatKindofTestPreparationisBest?,2005).AccordingtoACT,Inc.(The
ConditionofCollegeReadiness,2009),“foreachyearfrom2005to2009,ACTcomposite
andsubjectscoreswerehigherforstudentswhocompletedorplannedtocompleteacore
curriculumormoreinhighschoolthanforstudentswhodidnot”(p.6).IntheUnited
States,studentsshareanubiquitouspressuretosucceedonassessmentsthathigher
educationinstitutionshasdeemedmandatoryforacceptance.
Aregressionanalysisisusedtopredictfuturebehaviorfrompastbehavior.
AccordingtoBarmann(2004),“thepurposeofregressionanalysisistolearnmoreabout
therelationshipbetweenoneormoreindependentorpredictorvariablesandadependent
orcriterionvariable”(PowerPointslide#4).Asingleregressionanalysisisusedin
educationtoallowonemeasurementtopredictanothermeasurementandis“idealfor
ACTandEOC11
pickinguptrendsintimeseriesdata”(Bozarth,2011,para.2).Inthisstudy,thesingle
regressionanalysisdemonstratesthepredictivepoweroftheEnglishIIEOContheACT
assessment.
ACTandEOC12
RESEARCHDESIGNANDMETHODOLOGY
ResearchDesign
Aregressionanalysiswasusedinthisstudy.Alphalevelwassetat0.15to
determinesignificancefromtheregressionanalysis.TheEnglishIIEnd‐of‐Courseraw
scoreswerecomparedwithmostrecentrecordedoverallACTscoreandACTreading
subscore.TheindependentvariablewillconsistofrawscoresfromtheEnglishIIEnd‐of‐
Courseexam.ThedependentvariablewillconsistofACTreadingsubscores(Table1)and
overallACTscores(Table2).TheACTexamisdividedintofoursections:English,
mathematics,reading,andscience.ThereadingACTsubscore,insteadoftheEnglishACT
subscore,wasusedforthestudybecausetheEnglishIIEnd‐of‐Coursefocusesonreading
skills;therefore,thereadingportionoftheACTalignsmorecloselywiththeEnglishIIEOC.
Asimplelinearregressionanalysis,withanalphalevelof0.15,wasusedtodetermine
predictivepowerbetweenthedependentandindependentvariable.
Simplelinearregression
StudyGroup
Thestudygroupconsistedof100tenththroughtwelfthgradestudentsina
suburbanschooldistrict.Allstudentswererandomlyselectedfromthestudent
population.Approximately1,560studentsareenrolledinthisschool,with43.2%receiving
freeorreducedlunch.Thedemographicprofileforthestudentpopulationis82.5%White,
8.8%Black,5.1%Hispanic,and2.4%Asian(MODESE,2012).
DataCollectionandInstrumentation
Datawascollectedfromtheschooldatabase,PowerSchool.Thedataconsistedof
eachstudents’mostrecentACToverallscoreandsubtestscores.Thedataalsocontained
ACTandEOC13
theEnglishIIEOCrawscore.Datawasplacedinanexcelspreadsheetwithoutany
identifyingcharacteristicsforindividualstudents.
DataAnalysisMethods
AStatisticalPackagewasusedtocompletethestatisticalcalculationsinthisstudy.
Thesingleregressionanalysiswasperformedtodeterminethepredictivepowerbetween
EnglishIIEOCrawscoresandACTreadingsubscores.
ACTandEOC14
FINDINGS
Table1:RegressionAnalysisforEnglishIIEnd‐of‐Coursevs.ACTReading
Model:ACT=0.78314EOC+0.711742CNST
Source BetaCoef. R2 SEE F p‐value
Constant 0.711742
EOC 0.78313 0.368 4.58914 56.5594 2.76E‐11
Alpha=0.15
AsshowninTable1,asimpleregressionanalysiswascalculatedtopredicttheACT
readingsubscoresofstudentsbasedontheEnglishIIEOCrawscores.Themostrecent
ACTreadingsubscorewascollectedfrom100students.TheEOCEnglishIIrawscores
werecollectedfromthesame100students.TheEnglishIIEOCscoreswereusedforthe
independentvariable.TheACTreadingsubscoreswereusedforthedependentvariable.A
significantequationwasfound(F(1/98)=56.5594,p<0.15),withanR2of0.368.Subjects
predictedACTreadingsubscoreisequalto0.712+0.78EOC.Subjects’averageACT
readingsubscoreincreased0.78pointsforanincreaseofoneEnglishIIEOCscorewithan
SEEof+/‐4.59.Thereisa95%confidencelimitsforasingleforecast.Forastudentwho
scoresa27rawscoreontheEnglishIIEOC,thestudent’sforecastACTreadingsubscoreis
21.86.Thelowerforecastis12.7andtheupperforecastis31.01.Itcanbeconcludedthat
themodelnullhypothesiscanberejectedwithgreatconfidence.Foreveryincreaseof1
EnglishIIEOCscorethestudentcanexpecttoraisehisACTreadingsubscoreby0.78
points.
ACTandEOC15
Table2:RegressionAnalysisforEnglishIIEnd‐of‐Coursevs.CompositeACT
Model:ACT=0.656931EOC+3.91708CNST
Source BetaCoef. R2 SEE F p‐value
Constant 0.656931
EOC 3.91708 0.358 3.92794 54.325 5.69E‐11
Alpha=0.15
AsshowninTable2,asimpleregressionanalysiswascalculatedtopredictthe
compositeACTscoreofstudentsbasedontheEnglishIIEOCrawscores.Themostrecent
ACTcompositescorewascollectedfrom100students.TheEOCEnglishIIrawscoreswere
collectedfromthesame100students.TheEnglishIIEOCscoreswereusedforthe
independentvariable.TheACTcompositescoreswereusedforthedependentvariable.A
significantequationwasfound(F(1/97)=54.325,p<0.15),withanR2of0.358.Subjects
predictedACTreadingsubscoreisequalto3.917+0.66EOC.Subjects’averageACT
compositescoreincreased0.66pointsforanincreaseofoneEnglishIIEOCscorewithan
SEEof+/‐3.93.Thereisa95%confidencelimitsforasingleforecast.Forastudentwho
scoresa27rawscoreontheEnglishIIEOC,thestudent’sforecastcompositeACTscoreis
21.65.Thelowerforecastis13.8andtheupperforecastis29.5.Foreveryincreaseof1
EnglishIIEOCscorethestudentcanexpecttoraisehisACTcompositescoreby0.66points.
ACTandEOC16
CONCLUSIONSANDRECOMMENDATIONS
Theresultsofthisstudyshowthatthereisasignificantpredictivepowerbetween
theEnglishIIEOCscoresandACTreadingsubscores.Theresultsofthestudyalsoshow
thatthereisasignificantpredictivepowerbetweentheEnglishIIEOCscoresandACT
overallcompositescore.Somepeoplemayquestionwhythereisapredictivepowerfor
theACToverallcompositescoresinceitincludesmathematicsandscience.Theabilityto
readwellisanessentialcomponentofmasteringtheACTtest;eachsubtest,including
mathematicsandscience,requirethestudenttoreadcarefullytounderstandthecontentof
thequestionsandmaterialpresented.Nowthatapredictivepowerhasbeendetermined,
studentscanuseoneassessmenttoprepareandexcelforanotherassessment;therefore,
workingtoeliminatestudentsfeelinglikeexamsdonotassesssimilarmaterial.Basedon
thefindingsofthestudy,teacherscanusestudents’EnglishIIEOCscorestodevelopa
differentiatedcourseofstudytoensureincreasedsuccessontheACTassessment.Now,
studentscanusetheirEnglishIIEOCscoresasabenchmarktodeterminereadinessforthe
ACT.Likewise,theresultsofthestudyshouldincreasestudentmotivationfortheEnglish
IIEOConcestudentsunderstandthepredictivepower.Thestudyisintendedtomakethe
state‐requiredEOCrelevanttostudentsandthefindingsshouldaccomplishthatresult.
Therewereseverallimitationsinthepresentstudythatshouldbeaddressedin
futureresearch.Forthecurrentstudy,themostrecentACTscorewasusedforeach
student.FutureresearchshouldexaminethepredictivepowerbetweenEnglishIIEOC
scoresandthefirstACTscorerecordedperstudent.Itwouldbeinterestingtoseeifthere
isadifferencewhenthefirstACTscoreisused,sinceforsomestudentsinthestudy,the
mostrecentACTscorecouldhavebeentheirsecondorthirdtimetakingtheACTtest.
ACTandEOC17
Futureresearchshouldexaminethemotivationaspectofthestudy.Doesunderstanding
thepredictivepowerbetweentheEnglishIIEOCandtheACTassessmentincrease
motivationontheEnglishIIEOC?Ifso,EnglishIIEOCscorescouldbeexpectedtoincrease.
FutureresearchshouldalsostudythepredictivepowerbetweenAlgebraIEOCscoresand
ACTmathematicssubscoresandthepredictivepowerbetweenBiologyEOCscoresand
ACTsciencesubscores.
WiththecurrentmovementtowardsCommonCoreStateStandards(national
educationalstandards),Iwouldrecommendastudybeconductedresearchingtheaffectof
thenewnationalstandardsonbothEOCassessmentsandtheACT.NextGeneration
assessmentswillbeusedtoassessthemasteryofCommonCoreStateStandards.TheNext
Generationassessmentswillbethesamestatetostate.Currently,everystatehassome
formofanEnd‐of‐CourseassessmentforEnglish,mathematics,andscience.Afuturestudy
couldusethenationalassessmenttoassesstherigorousnessofeachstate’sEnd‐of‐Course
assessments.
Duetothenoveltyofthisstudy,thefindingswillbebeneficialtobotheducatorsand
students.Asprovenbythefindingsinthisstudy,asubject’saverageACTcompositescore
increased0.66pointsforanincreaseofoneEnglishIIEOCscore.Also,asubject’saverage
ACTreadingsubscoreincreased0.78pointsforanincreaseofoneEnglishIIEOCscore.A
studentwhoscoresa27rawscoreontheEnglishIIEOC,thestudent’sforecastACTreading
subscoreis21.86.Thecollege‐readinessbenchmarkscoreforreadingisa21,whichmeans
astudentwhoscoresbetween25‐26,eventhoughdefinedasproficientbyMissouri’s
DepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducation,isnotconsideredreadyfora
freshmenlevelEnglishorSocialStudiescourse.Thisstudyshouldbeusedtoadjust
ACTandEOC18
proficiencybandsfortheEnglishIIEOC.Nowthatthisstudyhasproventhatapredictive
powercanexistbetweenastate‐mandatedassessmentandanationalassessment,more
researchshouldbeconductedtoexpandknowledgeandrelevancy.
ACTandEOC19
REFERENCES
Atkinson,R.C.,&Geiser,S.(2009).Reflectionsonacenturyofcollegeadmissions
tests.EducationalResearcher,38(9),665‐676.
Barmann,T.(2004).Thingstoknowaboutregressionanalysis(PowerPointslides).
RetrievedfromNorthwestMissouriStateUniversityeCompanion.
Blank,R.(2011).Closingtheachievementgapforeconomicallydisadvantaged
students?Analyzingchangessincenochildleftbehindusingstateassessmentsand
thenationalassessmentforeducationalprogress.CouncilofChiefStateSchool
Officers.RetrievedfromERICdatabase.(ED51896)
Bozarth,C.(2011).Singleregression:Approachestoforecasting:Atutorial.The
SCRCArticlesLibrary.Retrievedfromhttp://scm.ncsu.edu/scm‐
articles/article/single‐regression‐approaches‐to‐forecasting‐a‐tutorial.
Conrad‐Curry,D.(2011).Afour‐yearstudyofactreadingresults:Achievement
trendsamongeleventh‐gradeboysandgirlsinmidwesternstate.Journalof
Education,191(3),27‐37.
DescriptionoftheACT.(2013).Retrievedfrom
http://www.actstudent.org/testprep/descriptions/.
Elementaryandsecondaryeducationact.(2013).Retrievedfrom
http://www.k12.wa.us/esea/.
Elementaryandsecondaryeducationact.(2013).Retrievedfrom
http://education.laws.com/elementary‐and‐secondary‐education‐act.
Hall,D.(2013).Astepforwardorastepback?Stateaccountabilityinthewaiverera.
EducationTrust.RetrievedfromERICdatabase.(ED543222)
ACTandEOC20
Jeffrey,J.R.(1972).Educationforthechildrenofthepoor:Astudyoftheoriginsofthe
elementaryandsecondaryeducationactof1965.(DoctoralDissertation)Rice
University,Houston.
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (2011, June 20). End-of-
course assessments. Retrieved from http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/assess/eoc.html.
Nichols,S.,Glass,G.,Berliner,D.(2005).High‐stakestestingandstudent
achievement:Problemsforthenochildleftbehindact.EducationPolicyResearch
Unit.RetrievedfromERICdatabase.(ED531537)
Schmidt,T.(2008).Scratchingthesurfaceof“nochildleftbehind”:How“nochildleft
behind”unfairlyaffectsschoolswithsignificantproportionsofdisadvantaged
students.(DoctoralDissertation)DominicanUniversityofCalifornia,SanRafael.
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Whatkindoftestpreparationisbest?.(2005).ACT,Inc.RetrievedfromERIC
database.(ED510444)
ACTandEOC21
APPENDIX
Figure1
EnglishIIEnd‐of‐CourseRawtoScaleScoreConversionChart
AdministrationWindow AchievementLevel RawScore ScaleScore
Spring2012 Advanced 29‐35 225‐250
Spring2012 Proficient 21‐28 200‐224
Spring2012 Basic 13‐20 180‐199
Spring2012 BelowBasic 0‐12 100‐179
Spring2013 Advanced 33‐39 225‐250
Spring2013 Proficient 25‐32 200‐224
Spring2013 Basic 14‐24 180‐199
Spring2013 BelowBasic 0‐13 100‐179
Figure2
CollegeReadinessBenchmarkScores
SubjectTest ACTTestScore
English 18
Mathematics 22
Reading 21
Science 24