This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Laila Lejnieks DiGuilio, Ching-Ni Hsieh, Sri Ananda, Teodora B. Cox, Barbara Dondiego Holmes, David A. Farmelo, Jennifer Bloomquist, Arthur L. Coleman, John S. Wills, and Naomi E. Gittins.
(2003). Response to Cizek: Historical High-Stakes Policies Relating to Unintended Consequences of High-Stakes Testing, Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice. Discusses current high-stakes standardized testing policy in response to G. Cizek through analogy with the policies of Chairman Mao in China and the decision to build the Maginot Line in France after World War I. Lessons from these events show that high-stakes policies skew outcomes and present high risk. Descriptors: Achievement Tests, Educational Assessment, Elementary Secondary Education, High Stakes Tests
(2009). Constrained Professionalism: Dilemmas of Teaching in the Face of Test-Based Accountability, Teachers College Record. Background/Context: In response to state-level test-based accountability and the federal No Child Left Behind Act, school administrators increasingly view centralized curriculum and prescribed instructional strategies as the most direct means of increasing student performance. This movement toward standardization reduces teachers' autonomy and control over their classroom practices. The consequences of test-based accountability on teacher practice are often conceptualized as a tension between teacher professionalism and standardization. Focus of Study: This case study investigates the classroom instruction of an experienced teacher in an elementary school where the principal supported teachers' autonomy and authority over curriculum and instruction. Examining her instructional practice in social studies, a subject not included in state testing, we demonstrate how specific teaching dilemmas that arose in response to state testing led to a new type of professionalism that we call constrained professionalism. Setting: This qualitative case study focuses on social studies instruction in a fifth-grade classroom at a rural elementary school in southern California serving a low-income, diverse student population with a large percentage of English language learners. The school was selected for two reasons: (1) as a low-performing but improving elementary school as measured by state testing, the school was under pressure to continue to raise student test scores, and (2) social studies continued to be part of the elementary curriculum. Data Collection/Analysis: Data collection extended over a 10-month period and included observation and videotaping of social studies lessons, interviews with the teacher and principal, and document collection. Observation and videotaping covered virtually all the social lessons during the school year in the teacher's classroom, a total of 66 lessons. Findings/Results: As state-mandated testing was instituted, administrative support of teacher autonomy continued, but constraints on this teacher's decisions emerged as instructional time and resources shifted to language arts and mathematics. Although able to make independent decisions, this qualified teacher did not teach social studies in the way she believed would best serve her students' needs and interests. Conclusions: This case study demonstrates how teachers' professional discretion is being minimized in subtle yet consequential ways amid high-stakes testing, even in subject areas not tested by the state. Constrained professionalism represents a new situation in which teachers retain autonomy in classroom practices, but their decisions are significantly circumscribed by contextual pressures and time demands that devalue their professional experience, judgment, and expertise. [More] Descriptors: Educational Strategies, Professional Autonomy, Federal Legislation, Observation
(2000). Student Testing and Assessment: Answering the Legal Questions. This guide examines the legal issues to consider in setting policy on the appropriate uses, and consequences, of student testing, and explores the controversies that have arisen in places where new polices were implemented. Chapter 1, "An Overview of Student Testing and Assessment," provides a brief overview of some of the state and federal legal implications of high-stakes testing. Several state programs are examined in greater detail, including Virginia's Standards of Learning program, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System initiative, and California's Standardized Testing and Reporting program. Chapter 2, "A Framework for Addressing Student Test Use Issues," explores lessons attorneys should draw from federal jurisprudence, research, practice, and psychometric principles, including the need to understand testing objectives, the need to align curriculum, instruction, and testing content, and limits in use of testing. Chapter 3, "Due Process and Discrimination Issues in High-Stakes Testing," reveals several important legal issues that must be considered during the controversial process of designing and using high-stakes testing. Chapter 4, "Special Considerations in High-Stakes Testing," investigates the testing of students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Chapter 5, "Using Student Test Results to Evaluate Educational Professionals and Institutions," evaluates case law germane to high-stakes testing. [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Compliance (Legal), Court Litigation, Disability Discrimination
(2011). Rater Effects in ITA Testing: ESL Teachers' versus American Undergraduates' Judgments of Accentedness, Comprehensibility, and Oral Proficiency, ProQuest LLC. Second language (L2) oral performance assessment always involves raters' subjective judgments and is thus subject to rater variability. The variability due to rater characteristics has important consequential impacts on decision-making processes, particularly in high-stakes testing situations (Bachman, Lynch, & Mason, 1995; A. Brown, 1995; Engelhard & Myford, 2003; Lumley & McNamara, 1995; McNamara, 1996). The purposes of this dissertation study were twofold. First, I wanted to examine rater severity effects across two groups of raters, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers and American undergraduate students, when raters evaluated international teaching assistants' (ITAs) oral proficiency, accentedness, and comprehensibility. Second, I wanted to identify and compare rater orientations, that is, factors that drew raters' attention when judging the examinees' oral performances. I employed both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to address these issues concerning rater effects and rater orientations in the performance testing of ITAs at a large Midwestern university. Thirteen ESL teachers and 32 American undergraduate students participated in this study. They evaluated 28 potential ITAs' oral responses to the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK). Raters evaluated the examinees' oral proficiency, accentedness, and comprehensibility, using three separate holistic rating scales. Raters also provided concurrent written comments regarding their rating criteria and participated in one-on-one interviews that explored raters' rating orientations. I employed a many-facet Rasch measurement analysis to examine and compare rater severity across rater groups using the computer program FACETS. I compared the written comments across groups to identify major rating criteria employed by the ESL teachers and the undergraduates. I analyzed the interview data to explore the reasons for rating discrepancies across groups. Results of the study suggested that the ESL teachers and the undergraduate raters did not differ in severity with respect to their ratings of oral proficiency. However, the comparisons of ratings in accentedness and comprehensibility were both statistically significant. The undergraduate raters were harsher than the teacher raters in their evaluations of examinees' accentedness and comprehensibility. Additionally, the analysis of the written comments identified six major rating criteria: linguistic resources, phonology, fluency, content, global assessment, and nonlinguistic factors. Cross-group comparisons of the rating criteria indicated that the undergraduate raters tended to evaluate the examinees' oral performances more globally than the ESL teachers did. In contrast, the ESL teachers tended to use a wider variety of rating criteria and commented more frequently on specific linguistic features. The interview protocols revealed that raters' experience with accented speech, perceptions of accent as an important rating criterion, and approaches to rating (i.e. analytical or global), had important bearings on raters' judgments of ITA speech. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: Undergraduate Students, Phonology, Teaching Assistants, Foreign Students
(2009). Effects of a Bundled Accommodations Package on High-Stakes Testing for Middle School Students with Reading Disabilities, Exceptional Children. This study investigated the efficacy of a package of accommodations for poor readers in Grade 7. Students with and without word reading disabilities were randomly assigned to take an experimental version of a high-stakes reading comprehension test in 1 of 3 formats: (a) standard administration, (b) read aloud accommodations with 1-day administration, or (c) read aloud accommodations with 2-day administration. The significant condition effect and nonsignificant group by condition interaction suggested that accommodations helped both poor and average readers. However, the accommodation effect in average readers stemmed from low performance in the nonaccommodated experimental condition that was not apparent when the same students previously took the state-administered test. The 2-day administration was more effective than the 1-day administration. [More] Descriptors: Reading Comprehension, Reading Difficulties, Economically Disadvantaged, High Stakes Tests
(2009). Rural High School Mathematics Teachers' Response to Mathematics Reform Curriculum Integration and Professional Development, ProQuest LLC. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine rural high school mathematics teachers' responses to the initial implementation of Louisiana's "Comprehensive Curriculum" during their second year of involvement in a professional development program. The curriculum changes were the culmination of an alignment between standards, curriculum, assessments and instruction which exemplified the shift to standards-based accountability and high-stakes testing characteristic of post-NCLB systemic reform efforts. I further investigated some of the discrepancies between the teachers' professed beliefs about mathematics and their classroom practices. The research questions probed the responses of forty-seven teachers to the implementation of the "Comprehensive Curriculum", their impressions of the impact of the professional development program, and the nature of mathematics as portrayed in the new curriculum. The study was framed in symbolic interactionism and grounded theory. The concerns and interests of the rural mathematics teachers guided the interview discussions and some of the observations. Data sources included surveys, participant-observations, interviews and other documents. Predetermined and constant comparative coding themes contributed to the constant comparative data analysis. Analysis of the data revealed three major themes that pervaded the teachers' perceptions of the educational changes they were undergoing: expectations, need for alignment, and big picture. Both teachers and teacher educators agreed that there was a misalignment between the different districts' goals and foci and they identified strengths and weaknesses in the professional development program. The implementation of the new curriculum coupled with the professional development program and the pressures for increasing test scores offered me an opportunity to study teachers during a challenging and uncertain time. The findings of the study may contribute to a better understanding of how teachers perceive mandated changes to their practices as prompted by reforms in mathematics education. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: Educational Change, Grounded Theory, Curriculum Development, Mathematics Education
(2009). Influences of Writing Project Involvement on the Professional Development of Teachers, ProQuest LLC. Writing is a powerful learning tool that allows students to connect critical thinking across the curriculum. Good writing skills are necessary for students to succeed in higher education and on the job. Teachers, however, are avoiding teaching writing, in part because it has not been included until recently in high stakes testing, and in part because they may not understand how to teach writing and how to grade it. Central West Virginia Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project, conducts an annual Invitational Summer Institute for teachers of grades K-Adult to teach teachers to teach writing across the curriculum. This 20-month qualitative study examined ways in which the 2007 Summer Institute influenced the professional development of 11 teachers who represented grades K-12 in ten schools within two county school districts. The study addressed five questions: participants' perception of writing project professional development, influences of the professional development program on teacher classroom practice, the extent to which participants perceived the Summer Institute program as fitting parameters of quality as defined by Backus, factors that might be useful to other designers of professional development, and the perceived enthusiasm that participants showed toward writing project professional development. It included emerging themes of technology use in the classroom, influences of school administrators, and teacher growth as peer leaders. The study found that writing project professional development was effective for some but not all participants. It inferred that the program fit parameters of quality, and that certain essentials of design and implementation may be useful for other providers of teacher in-service. It found six elements that appeared to influence the positive feelings reported by participating teachers for this professional development even if they did not transfer desired content to their classrooms. It also demonstrated the appropriateness of a collaborative, qualitative study such as this for researching questions of teacher practice. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: Writing Across the Curriculum, Elementary Secondary Education, County School Districts, Writing Skills
(1999). High-Stakes Assessments in Reading: A Position Statement of the International Reading Association. Discusses what the term "High-Stakes Testing" means; concerns about high-stakes testing; whether testing is an important part of good educational design; why using tests for high-stakes decisions causes problems; whether test scores improve when high-stakes assessment is mandated; and ways to help states monitor student success in the curriculum. Offers recommendations for teachers, researchers, parents, and policy makers. Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, High Stakes Tests, Politics of Education, Reading Improvement
(2009). Exploring Students' Experiences with the California High School Exit Examination February 2006 to May 2007, ProQuest LLC. The California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) is a graduation requirement that includes passing a two part exam: English-language arts (ELA) and mathematics. Students take the exam for the first time in 10th grade. In 2005-06, the passing rates were about 77% for ELA and 75% for math. This study uses student level data to focus on the 476,948 students who took the ELA and 477,556 students who took the math during 10th grade in 2005-06. The students responded to a questionnaire after taking each portion of the exam. Their perceptions and attitudes regarding the importance of the test, graduation expectations, and post-high school plans were analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis. For the students who had not passed, their 10th grade responses were compared to their first retake in 2006-07 to identify changes in perceptions and attitudes. The major findings showed that in 10th grade, about 96% of the students perceived the CAHSEE to be important. Over 83% of the students reported that they did well on the test. The main reasons they did not do well were too nervous, did not remember, and not motivated. About 84% of the students expected to graduate from high school. One-third of the students reported that the main reason they may not graduate was not pass the CAHSEE. Over 70% of the students planned to attend college; 5% join the military; 4% attend vocational, technical, or trade school; and 4% work full-time. About 88% of the students were sure about their post-high school plans. During the first retake, fewer than 30% of the students passed. Although most students' perceptions and attitudes remained positive, American Indian, African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Pacific Islander students and those with a disadvantage were most negatively affected by the CAHSEE policy. Furthermore, English learners and students with disabilities expressed lack of motivation, doubts about graduating from high school, and uncertainty of their post-high school plans. The findings of this study respond to the established need for ongoing research to monitor the impact of high-stakes testing on students who are low-achievers and students with disadvantages. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: Student Attitudes, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, Graduation
(2009). Process, Product, and Playmaking, English Education. This article examines relationships among process, product, and playmaking in a southeastern playwriting and performance program for teen girls, Playmaking for Girls (PFG). The authors have chosen to focus on tensions between process and product. Such tensions are present in the challenges teachers experience when privileging student-centered writing and other arts-based educational pedagogy. Student texts and the performance of these texts are critical literate practices for "with hope" (as opposed to "at risk") students. Public school teachers as well as teachers in youth-centered nonprofit organizations and programs are responsible for answering prevailing questions from the public (e.g., administrators, funders, evaluators, law enforcement community) about the finished "products" from their work with children and teens. This is especially true in an era of accountability where urban schools are being stripped of programming that fosters creativity and the arts while students are being skilled and drilled for high-stakes testing. PFG trains teaching artists to conduct playwriting and performance workshops with incarcerated girls in regional youth detention centers. Additionally, PFG has conducted after-school workshops with middle school girls in urban public schools. In the context of the PFG program, one of the concerns of spectators is how many girls "stay out of trouble" once they have participated in the program. Unfortunately, no one seems to ask the essential question about how many girls are forced to return to underserved communities and schools. While questions about accountability are important, the authors find that participation and more specifically cultivating the desire for more participation among students are the foremost priorities. Therefore, the authors ask the following questions of their own practice: (1) What are the tensions between process and product in PFG workshops?; (2) How do teaching artists view the role of process in PFG workshops?; and (3) What can the collective experiences of a teacher educator, researcher, theater director, and teaching artist or "worthy witnesses" contribute to the teaching of literacy? Drawing from a synergy of voices, this article attempts to unpack process in the context of the PFG program and offers implications for the teaching of creative writing in school contexts. Ultimately, the authors' aim is to engage English language arts teachers and teacher educators in a dialogue around process and the performance of literacy. [More] Descriptors: Urban Schools, Playwriting, Creative Writing, Program Effectiveness
(2009). Class and Categories: What Role Does Socioeconomic Status Play in Children's Lexical and Conceptual Development?, Multilingua: Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication. At one time, academic inquiries into the relationship between socioeconomic class and language acquisition were commonplace, but the past 20 years have seen a decrease in work that focuses on the intersection between class and early language learning. Recently, however, against the backdrop of the No Child Left Behind legislation in the United States (which has been criticized as a culturally biased education policy that, through high-stakes testing and broad-based, uniform curricula, discounts the value of non-standard home language varieties largely spoken by working-class children), there has been renewed interest in the relationship between class, language use, and the assessment of academic achievement in the field of education. Despite the inroads that have been made over the past 40 years by linguists in establishing the contrary, recent educational and language policies have served to reignite the difference vs. deficit debate largely attributed to the early work of both Basil Bernstein and William Labov. Unfortunately, much of the language acquisition work upon which policy-makers are relying is founded on outdated information and misrepresentations of the varieties under consideration (African American English in particular); and still the scholastic performance of these children is measured according to class-based rubrics. In order to address the lacuna in the field, in this study, working- and middle-class adults and children aged two through six were shown a series of pictures including "normal" referents (e.g., a cat), and unfamiliar combinations (e.g., a clock with wheels), which they were asked to identify. There were both age and class dependent differences in terms of naming behaviors (e.g., the number of words and morphemes and linguistic construction types). The older and middle-class participants used more sophisticated linguistic strategies (such as descriptive phrases) than the younger participants, and the working-class children showed a greater reluctance to engage in naming strategies beyond one-word overextensions. These disparities suggested that the participants not only employed different strategies by age, but that there was also a class-linked difference in their understanding of the task. When these results are interpreted in light of the deficit/difference debate, it is clear that linguists and educators continue to face the same issue: non-standard varieties are linguistically adequate, but there remains a societal insistence on furthering the primacy of middle-class linguistic structures and language behaviors which serves to maintain a cycle of educational failure for working-class children. [More] Descriptors: Language Variation, Federal Legislation, Morphemes, Academic Achievement
(2000). The High Stakes of HIGH-STAKES Testing. Policy Brief. This brief addresses the benefits and concerns raised by the use of high stakes testing as the centerpiece of new accountability systems. It offers some recommendations for policymakers seeking to incorporate such tests into state accountability systems. High stakes tests can clarify and establish challenging performance expectations for students, teachers, and schools; highlight achievement gaps; and boost student performance. The drawbacks are that they can: (1) increase student failure and retention rates to unacceptably high levels; (2) narrow the focus of instruction and assessment; (3) lead to inappropriate inferences about student performance; and (4) overburden students and teachers. The question for policymakers is not whether to use high-stakes testing because the trend toward increased reliance on such testing will not and should not disappear any time soon. The question is how best to use high stakes testing, ensuring technical adequacy of the tests, efficient use of testing, and sufficient professional development. [More] Descriptors: Accountability, Elementary Secondary Education, High Stakes Tests, Policy Formation
(2011). Character and Moral Education: A Reader, Peter Lang New York. Against a formidable national discourse that emphasizes academic standardization, accountability, and high-stakes testing in educational policy, "Character and Moral Education: A Reader" seeks to re-introduce and revive the moral mission of education in public conversation and practices in America's schools. With contributions from a prominent array of scholars and practitioners, the book critically analyzes moral education, broadly defined as both an academic field that attempts to develop moral human beings, and as a principled discourse aimed at creating ethical educational policies and practices. With theoretical rigor and practical wisdom, this volume offers diverse and cutting-edge scholarship on character and moral education in 21st-century schools. This timely and important book will appeal to all those concerned with both the ethical well-being of today's students, and the school's responsibility to prepare individuals to lead moral lives in the future. This book contains: (1) Introduction (Joseph L. DeVitis and Tianlong Yu); (2) Moral Education in the Schools (William J. Bennett and Edwin J. Delattre); (3) The Great Tradition in Education: Transmitting Moral Values (Edward A. Wynne); (4) Character Education: Seven Crucial Issues (Thomas Lickona); (5) Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education (Thomas Lickona, Eric Schaps, and Catherine Lewis); (6) Character and Academics: What Good Schools Do (Jacques S. Benninga, Marvin W. Berkowitz, Phyllis Kuehn, and Karen Smith); (7) The Politics of Character Education (David E. Purpel); (8) The "Moral Poverty" of Character Education (Joseph L. DeVitis and Tianlong Yu); (9) Legislating Character: Moral Education in North Carolina's Public Schools (Aaron Cooley); (10) Character Education in Contemporary America: McMorals? (Suzanne S. Hudd); (11) Would You Like Values with That? Chick-fil-A and Character Education (Deron Boyles); (12) Does Character Education "Really" Support Citizenship Education? Examining the Claims of an Ontario Policy (Sue Winton); (13) Michael H. Romanowski Through the Eyes of Students: High School Students' Perspectives on Character Education (Michael H. Romanowski); (14) How Not to Teach Values: A Critical Look at Character Education (Alfie Kohn); (15) Character Education from the Left Field (Dwight Boyd); (16) Morality, Virtue, and Democratic Life (John F. Covaleskie); (17) Liberal Education and Moral Education (Daniel R. DeNicola); (18) Democracy in a Cosmopolitan Age: Moral Education for the Global Citizen (Scott Fletcher and Peter J. Nelsen); (19) Neo-Deweyan Moral Education (Douglas J. Simpson); (20) Critical Pedagogy and Moral Education (Ronald David Glass); (21) Feminist Theory and Moral Education (Barbara J. Thayer-Bacon); (22) A Warrior for Justice: Jonathan Kozol's Moral Vision of America's Schools and Society (Richard Ognibene); (23) Framing Adolescents, Their School, and Cultures: Contested Worldviews (Linda Irwin-DeVitis); (24) Fear of Uncertainty, Control, and the Criminalizing of Youth (Lynda Stone); (25) Navigating Inequities: A Morally Rooted Pedagogy of Intentional Mentoring With Black Children and Other Youth of Color (Janie Victoria Ward); (26) Cultural and Subjective Operations of Ignorance and Resistance in Sexuality-Related Curricula (Jennifer Logue); (27) Feelings of Worth and the Moral Made Visible (Barbara Stengel); (28) Teaching Themes of Care (Nel Noddings); (29) Surveying the Soil: Building a Culture of Connectedness in School (Marcia Peck); (30) "Doubt" and the Framing of Virtue Through Film (Susan Verducci and Michael Katz); (31) On the Relationship of Peace Education to Moral Education (Cris Toffolo and Ian Harris); (32) Earth's Role in Ethical Discourse and Functional Scientific Literacy (Michael P. Mueller, Dana L. Zeidler, and Lynda L. Jenkins); (33) Understanding Unbelief as Part of Religious Education (Nel Noddings); and (34) Moral Education for the 21st Century: A Buddhist View (Daniel Vokey). [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Ethical Instruction, African American Children, Feminism
(2009). The Perception of English Language Arts Teachers about Instructional Changes Following the Implementation of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills Test, ProQuest LLC. Accountability in education has been expanding for the past twenty years. As standards for curricular areas continued to develop, educational shareholders desired a way to measure student achievement contextualized by the established standards. Since 1964, policies expanded federal involvement with education, and with the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, high-stakes testing became a significant part of public education. In Texas, testing transitioned in 2003 to the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skill (TAKS) test, an assessment that determines grade advancement for students, ratings for school districts, and additional compensation for some teachers. Along with the increasing expectations for student achievement, the need for effective instruction also increases. This dissertation studies how English language arts (ELA) teachers in four North Texas suburban high schools perceive instructional change following the implementation of TAKS. One hundred twenty-one teachers (n = 121) were surveyed using an instrument broken into seven categories: student-centered instruction, student interest, instructional communication, time, classroom environment, teacher knowledge, and assessment. Participants were separated into two groups, teachers with one to six years of experience with a district or seven or more years with a district. Using a rating scale for each statement on the survey instrument, participants indicated the direction and magnitude of change or indicated no change occurred. When comparing an overall average frequency percentage for each possible rating for each category, the two highest percentages for both surveyed groups indicated no instructional change since the implementation of TAKS. However, when considering specific statements about professional growth and instructor knowledge, both groups were likely to rate a change as positive. Whereas, if the statement suggested instructional areas constricted by time, participants for both groups were likely to rate a change as negative. Additionally, an ANOVA indicated no significant difference between either of the participating groups. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: Teacher Characteristics, Federal Legislation, Language Arts, Academic Achievement
(2009). Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills, Two Sides of the Same Coin: Using Latent Class Analysis to Compare Students on Select Academic and Career Outcomes, ProQuest LLC. The history of American schooling is replete with the interplay between politics, economics and social behavior. This has never been more evident than in the current environment of high stakes testing on core subjects that largely ignores other important noncognitive outcomes of education. Within this context, the present study built on previous research in the area of noncognitive skills and explored the relationship between noncognitive skills and important background characteristics and distal outcomes by comparing student ability groupings. Ability groups were identified in a sample of twelfth grade students pulled from the National Education Longitudinal Survey of 1988 (NELS:88) utilizing latent class analysis (LCA), a person-centered latent variable approach. LCA offered a beneficial method for group assignment because it allowed for the analysis of student cognitive and noncognitive skills concurrently and assigned classes based on student responses to a series of seventeen cognitive and noncognitive measures. In the interest of validating the classes yielded from the latent class analysis, an alternative grouping method motivated by mean cut-scores, was also tested and compared to the LCA results. Once the latent classes were identified, they were compared for potentially significant differences on important background characteristics, specifically gender, race and socioeconomic status in an effort to illuminate any inequity in group representation. Of particular interest were students who demonstrated low cognitive skills, traits measured and rewarded in education, but high noncognitive skills, traits desired and rewarded in the workplace. Student ability groups were also compared on distal outcomes of import, including educational attainment, income and job satisfaction, to illuminate potential trajectories for students based on their cognitive and noncognitive skills. This allowed for the identification of differential outcomes between groups based on their cognitive and noncognitive skills, and allowed for the testing of outcomes predicted by the literature, specifically that high levels of noncognitive skills provide some added benefit to students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Longitudinal Studies, Social Behavior, Job Satisfaction