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

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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