A Longitudinal Analysis of Science Scale Scores Grades 2-8 in Tennessee for 1992-1996.

In light of the continuing debate over the relative merits of various ways of assessing student achievement, it seems appropriate to examine longitudinal data which reflect student performance on one measure as a basis for recognizing and utilizing the measure's particular strengths. This study is the follow-up to an earlier study conducted using data from the state of Tennessee for student scale scores in science for the years 1990-1994. The current data set consisted of school system level science scale scores on the CTBS/4 science test, grades 2 through 8, for each of the 138 Tennessee school systems for the years 1992-1996. The normed portion of the science subtest of the CTBS/4 consists of 20 items with four possible answers for each item. Examination of the descriptives revealed an increase in the mean of science scale scores for grades 2-8 each year except 1993, which showed a "negative gain." This population represents the remaining members of the cohort of students (grades 4-8) included in the mean score for 1991, which also had a "negative gain." This finding seems to indicate that teacher effect on student achievement may be both cumulative and residual. Contains 21 references. (Author/PVD)