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Too frequently, high school students do not put forth effort to do well in receiving quality grades in classes taken. There is no better time to excel than when a student enters the elementary school and then continues to put forth maximum effort. Some universities believe high school grade point average is the best predictor of success on the higher education level. Others believe the SAT or ACT to be the best predictor. And still others feel a combination of the two along with student recommendations are the best.
The SAT and ACT do not measure academic achievement, per se, but were designed to possess predictive validity. Some high schools show student achievement in terms of SAT or ACT test results. Generally, a standardized academic achievement test needs to be used to measure progress in mathematics, science, reading, and literature, among others.
In my research study in writing the doctoral dissertation, I used the Iowa Test of Basic Skills to determine student subject matter achievement. Had my study dealt with predicting high school student success in college/university, the SAT or ACT would have been the better tests to use.
It tends to be true that the more students take either of these two tests, the lower the results will be. Why? More are taking the test than formerly, bringing in students who may not have been sold in going on to higher education initially.
What if a student does not do well on the SAT/ACT, might he/she do acceptable college/university work? Yes, but it becomes increasingly difficult to do so. Habits are acquired in putting forth effort in studying at a young age. The student loses out by failing to take school work seriously.
Motivation is not measured, per se, in taking these predictive tests, but it, no doubt, shows up when continuous effort is applied in studying from the elementary school years on. There is, however, much that can be accomplished if a student truly wants to go on to higher or technical education.
The No Child Left Behind state mandated test is required, if federal aid is to be received, to be taken in grades three through eight and is an attempt to measure subject matter achievement. NCLB is in limbo as to if it will be modified, dropped or used as is. The chances are very unlikely that it will remain as is, but, probably, will be completely modified.
There will need to be more agreements among educators as to how to ascertain mandated student progress in the public schools.
— Dr. Marlow Ediger, professor emeritus,
North Newton
Too frequently, high school students do not put forth effort to do well in receiving quality grades in classes taken. There is no better time to excel than when a student enters the elementary school and then continues to put forth maximum effort. Some universities believe high school grade point average is the best predictor of success on the higher education level. Others believe the SAT or ACT to be the best predictor. And still others feel a combination of the two along with student recommendations are the best.
The SAT and ACT do not measure academic achievement, per se, but were designed to possess predictive validity. Some high schools show student achievement in terms of SAT or ACT test results. Generally, a standardized academic achievement test needs to be used to measure progress in mathematics, science, reading, and literature, among others. In my research study in writing the doctoral dissertation, I used the Iowa Test of Basic Skills to determine student subject matter achievement. Had my study dealt with predicting high school student success in college/university, the SAT or ACT would have been the better tests to use. It tends to be true that the more students take either of these two tests, the lower the results will be. Why? More are taking the test than formerly, bringing in students who may not have been sold in going on to higher education initially. What if a student does not do well on the SAT/ACT, might he/she do acceptable college/university work? Yes, but it becomes increasingly difficult to do so. Habits are acquired in putting forth effort in studying at a young age. The student loses out by failing to take school work seriously. Motivation is not measured, per se, in taking these predictive tests, but it, no doubt, shows up when continuous effort is applied in studying from the elementary school years on. There is, however, much that can be accomplished if a student truly wants to go on to higher or technical education. The No Child Left Behind state mandated test is required, if federal aid is to be received, to be taken in grades three through eight and is an attempt to measure subject matter achievement. NCLB is in limbo as to if it will be modified, dropped or used as is. The chances are very unlikely that it will remain as is, but, probably, will be completely modified. There will need to be more agreements among educators as to how to ascertain mandated student progress in the public schools. — Dr. Marlow Ediger, professor emeritus, North Newton
