Metropolitan Achievement Test Research Articles

Identifying the First Grade Underachiever

AbstractFour methods of judging achievement relative to ability were investigated: (1.) Achievement and ability T scores within on standard deviation of each other, (2) Achievement T score subtracted from ability T score ratios, (3.) Regression of achievement on ability, and (4.) Teacher judgement as to the juxtaposition of achievement and ability. The Metropolitan Achievement Test (Primary I) and the Kuhlman-Anderson Intelligence Test, (A), were administered to 157 first graders. One hundred of these were chosen at random as a criterion group. Means, standard deviations, and regression equations were computed separately for boys and girls. The scores of the remaining fifty-seven were transformed using these estimates of the parameters. The number of overachievers, adequate-achievers, and underachievers identified by each of the four definitions differed significantly.

Assessing Science Reasoning and Conceptual Understanding in the Primary Grades Using Standardized and Performance-Based Assessments

Project Clarion, a Jacob K. Javits-funded project, focused on the scale-up of primary-grade science curricula. Curriculum units, based on an Integrated Curriculum Model (ICM), were developed for high-ability learners, but tried out with all students in Title I settings to study the efficacy of the units with all learners. The units focus on the development of students’ conceptual understanding to undergird science content attainment. Teaching and learning models, such as concept formation and concept mapping were used to scaffold science learning and reasoning for appropriate curriculum differentiation. Science content mastery was measured using the Metropolitan Achievement Tests. Reasoning skills were measured using the Test of Critical Thinking. Understanding of macro-concepts and content attainment were measured by curriculum-embedded performance-based assessments. Students with the ICM outperformed students without the specialized curriculum in science content and reasoning skills, and showed greater growth in both conceptual understanding and content attainment.

The Predictive Value of Selection Criteria in an Urban Magnet School

The predictive value of selection criteria on outcome data from two cohorts of students (Total N = 525) accepted to an urban magnet high school were evaluated. Regression analyses of typical screening variables (suspensions, absences, metropolitan achievement tests, middle school grade point averages [GPAs], Matrix Analogies test scores, and demographic variables) on graduation and magnet school GPA indicate that most of the selection variables did not have predictive value. The results of the regression analyses are discussed, as well as the implications for using selection criteria in urban “select” schools.

The Relationship between Race, Income, and Oral Reading Fluency and Performance on Two Reading Comprehension Measures

Oral reading fluency is a good predictor of performance on state reading assessments. The present study addressed the issue of bias by examining whether oral reading fluency scores differentially predict performance on a state reading assessment and the Metropolitan Achievement Tests, 7th Edition (MAT/7) across economic and racial groups. Information from 442 fourth-grade students from a Midwest public school was analyzed using multiple linear regression. All three variables made a significant contribution to predicting performance on the state assessment and the MAT/7. Oral reading fluency made the greatest contribution. The results also indicate that the oral reading fluency scores exhibit intercept bias on the state reading test. A stepwise regression procedure found no evidence of bias. On both the state reading test and the MAT/7, the test scores of African American and low-income students were overpredicted, whereas those of Caucasian and higher-income students were underpredicted.

Phenotypic and behavioral genetic covariation between elemental cognitive components and scholastic measures.

The study subjected nine elementary cognitive task variables from the Cognitive Assessment Tasks (CAT) and three scholastic measures from the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT) to phenotypic and behavioral genetic structural equation modeling based on data for 277 pairs of same sex monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins from the Western Reserve Twin Project. Phenotypic and behavioral genetic covariation between certain elemental cognitive components and scholastic performance was examined to determine (a) whether these elemental cognitive components contribute substantially to the variance of scholastic performance; (b) whether such contributions vary across different domains of school knowledge or from specific domains to a general aptitude; (c) the behavioral genetic composition of the elemental cognitive components and the scholastic variables; and (d) how the association between the cognitive components and scholastic performance is genetically and environmentally mediated. The results of the study showed that as much as 30% of the phenotypic variance of scholastic performance was accounted for by the CAT general factor, which was presumably related to mental speed. A mainly genetic covariation was found between the mental speed component and scholastic performance, although each of the two variables was strongly influenced by both heritability and common family environment. The magnitude and etiology of the covariation were largely invariant whether mental speed was related to a common scholastic aptitude or to individual achievement measures covering different knowledge domains. Taken in conjunction with previous findings that mental speed has a substantial genetic correlation with psychometric g, and psychometric g has a mostly genetic covariation with scholastic achievement, the findings of the present study seems to point to a more global picture; namely, there is a causal sequence that starts from mental speed as the explanatory factor for both psychometric g and scholastic performance, and the etiology of the causal link is chiefly genetic.

The causal factor underlying the correlation between psychometric g and scholastic performance

Structural equation models were fitted to covariances among 9 Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) variables, 11 Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised (WISC-R) subtest scores, and 3 Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT) scaled scores, administered to a sample of 532 primary school children who participated in the Western Reserve Twin Project. The models were designed to test the hypothesis that factors representing basic cognitive processes, extracted from the nine CAT variables, were the main causal determinants for the observed correlation between psychometric g and scholastic performance, which were represented, respectively, by a general factor extracted from the WISC-R and a factor from the MAT. Structural relations between the CAT factors as the primary independent variables, psychometric g as a secondary independent variable, and scholastic performance as the dependent variables were estimated, and the R 2 change indicating the higher-order shared variability between g and scholastic performance was evaluated. After the influence of a CAT general factor was controlled, the WISC-R general factor accounted for about 6% of the variability in the MAT scholastic factor, as opposed to as much as 30% of the zero-order variability shared by the two variables. The results were not seriously affected by the exclusion of nonchronometric measures of the cognitive tasks from the model, suggesting that individual differences in mental speed are a main causal factor underlying the observed correlation between general intelligence and scholastic performance in children between the ages of 6 and 13.

A Longitudinal Predictive Validity Investigation of the Sb:Fe and K-Abc With At-Risk Children

The predictive validity of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (SB:FE) and Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) was investigated by testing a sample of African-American and White children from impoverished families over an 8-year period. The cognitive tests were administered at ages 4, 6, and 9, and the Metropolitan Achievement Test was administered each year from kinder garten through sixth grade. Predictive validity coefficients for both tests were moderately strong and quite consistent over time. The cor relations between the cognitive and achieve ment measures were adequate for the youngest group of children and improved when the pre dictors were administered at later ages. The K-ABC Achievement scale was found to be the best predictor of academic achievement, par ticularly for the school-aged children. Each test predicted academic performance of both African-American and White children equally well.

The Contextual Effects of Socioeconomic Status on Student Achievement Test Scores by Race

This study seeks to understand the achievement behavior of Black and White students in poverty-concentrated, socioeconomically mixed, and affluent-concentrated school contexts. Holding socioeconomic status constant, the proportion of Black and White students performing above the national norm on the Metropolitan Achievement Test was computed and analyzed for each of these three learning environments. The proportion of students performing above the national norm is higher in affluent-concentrated schools than in poverty-concentrated schools for students in both racial groups. However, the 36 percentage points that separated Black and White populations in favor of Whites on the achievement test for all elementary and middle school combined was more or less constant in high, middle, and low socioeconomic schools, suggesting that the test score gap by race is as much a function of the test and its construction as it is a function of characteristics of the test takers.

Converging evidence for the concept of orthographic processing

Six different measures of orthographic processing (three different letter string choice tasks, two orthographic choice tasks, and a homophone choice task) were administered to thirty-nine children who had also been administered the word recognition subtest of the Metropolitan Achievement Test and a comprehensive battery of tasks assessing phonological processing skill (four measures of phonological sensitivity, nonword repetition, and pseudoword reading). The six orthographic tasks displayed moderate convergence – forming one reasonably coherent factor. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that a composite measure of orthographic processing skill predicted variance in word recognition after variance accounted for by the phonological processing measures had been partialed out. A measure of print exposure predictedvariance in orthographic processing after the variance in phonologicalprocessing had been partialed out.

Effects of Health-Related Physical Education on Academic Achievement: Project SPARK

The effects of a 2-year health-related school physical education program on standardized academic achievement scores was assessed in 759 children who completed Metropolitan Achievement Tests before and after the program. Schools were randomly assigned to condition: (a) Specialists taught the Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids curriculum; (b) classroom teachers were trained to implement the curriculum; and (c) controls continued their usual programs. The Trained Teacher condition was superior to Control on Language, Reading, and Basic Battery. The Specialist condition was superior to Control on Reading, but inferior on Language. Despite devoting twice as many minutes per week to physical education as Controls, the health-related physical education program did not interfere with academic achievement. Health-related physical education may have favorable effects on students' academic achievement.

Scholastic impairments among traumatized adolescents

This investigation sought to determine if exposure to exceptional stress is associated with academic deficits or whether academic deficits are specifically associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In order to address these questions, the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT) as well as a measure of intelligence were administered to three groups of Lebanese adolescents. The first group met diagnostic criteria for PTSD. The second group had been exposed to qualitatively and quantitatively similar stressors but did not meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD. The third group consisted of non-traumatized controls. Data analysis using IQ as a covariate determined that the MAT scores of the PTSD subjects were significantly lower than the scores of the stress exposed PTSD negatives and controls. No significant differences were observed when the MAT scores of the stress exposed PTSD negatives and controls were compared.

Visual Predictors of Reading Performance in Kindergarten and First Grade Children

A masked investigation of the relation between performance on various vision tests and reading was conducted with 90 kindergartners (mean age 5.73 years) and 91 first graders (mean age 6.76 years) from a middle class, suburban, elementary school near Cleveland, Ohio. Vision testing included the Modified Clinical Technique (MCT), +/- 2.00 D flipper lenses with red/green suppression check for accommodative facility, and Randot for stereoacuity. Reading performance was independently evaluated with the Metropolitan Achievement Test 6 Reading Test and teachers' assessments. The results revealed that accommodative facility was predictive of successful reading performance in 7-year-olds (p = 0.0431), first graders (p = 0.0125), and in the entire subject group when age (p = 0.0254) or grade (p = 0.0224) was controlled. Failure on the MCT was significantly associated with decreased reading skill in 5-year-olds (p = 0.0431). In addition, stereoacuity worse than 100 sec arc (p = 0.0316), MCT failure plus stereoacuity worse than 50 sec arc (p = 0.0316), and accommodative facility (p 0.0155) were predictive of whether children of average intelligence would show successful or unsuccessful reading ability. Thus, visual performance was significantly related to reading performance even in children of average intelligence when IQ was partially controlled. Also, the predictive value of the MCT for reading achievement could be improved by the addition of a referral criterion for stereoacuity. This would make the results of MCT screening more readily applicable to educators.

Cognitive and motivational determinants of academic achievement and behaviour in third and fourth grade disadvantaged children.

While most studies on the determinants of learning deal with either cognition or motivation, there is a growing awareness that both should be considered. Our purpose was to examine the relative roles of cognitive and motivational factors for the scholastic achievement and behaviour of disadvantaged children. Cognition was conceptualised in terms of the psychosemantic theory that assesses cognitive processes by characteristics of the individual's meaning assignment (Kreitler & Kreitler, 1987a). Motivation was conceptualised in terms of the cognitive orientation (CO) theory which assumes that cognitive contents guide behaviour (Kreitler & Kreitler, 1982). Participants were 57 third and fourth graders of both genders, recommended for a remedial summer programme. They were administered the Meaning Test assessing cognitive abilities; the CO Questionnaire of Motivation for Learning assessing the disposition to learn; and the Metropolitan Achievement Test and the IOWA tests assessing verbal, mathematical and working skills. Teachers completed the Teacher-Child Rating Scale assessing six scholastic behaviours. Regression analyses showed that all dependent variables were predicted by the cognitive and motivational variables, better by specific than global predictors. Cognitive variables contributed more to the predictions, especially of academic achievements, and more in the case of verbal than mathematical abilities. In girls, motivational factors played a larger role than cognitive factors, absolutely and relative to boys. Implications for promoting scholastic achievements are discussed.

Effects of Curriculum Alignment Versus Direct Instruction on Urban Children

Abstract The city of Camden, New Jersey, received a Follow Through grant to implement the direct-instruction model in one of its elementary schools. The standardized achievement test scores of Grade 2 pupils who experienced the direct-instruction model were compared with the scores of pupils who experienced traditional basal programs. The traditional programs were aligned with the standardized Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) used by the district. An additional factor included in the evaluation was the effect of student mobility on achievement. The achievement of mobile students was compared with the achievement of stable students. Finally, stable students were given an additional standardized test, the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT), to assess the effects of the programs independent of the aligned curriculum. The results indicated that (a) the direct-instruction students did as well as the aligned students on the CTBS, (b) the achievement of stable students was generally higher than that of...

Association of Academic Achievement with Behavior Among Black Students and White Students

Abstract This study sought to determine whether children's adaptive functioning and maladaptive functioning, as measured by the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale, are significantly associated with their academic achievement (i.e., Metropolitan Achievement Test [MAT] scores and grade point averages [GPAs]). Differences in the specified functioning and achievement variables resulting from children's grade level, gender, and family structure were also investigated. Subjects were 680 second-, fourth-, and eighth-grade students. Results indicated that several of the adaptive functioning and maladaptive behavior variables were significant predictors of GPAs and MAT scores for White students; only maladaptive behavior was predictive of MAT scores for Black students. Family structure influenced only White students' achievement. Eighth graders had significantly lower GPAs than did second or fourth graders. Implications for future research on children's achievement are discussed.

Basal reader instruction: Effects of comprehension monitoring training on reading comprehension, strategy use and attitude

Abstract The efficacy of a metacognitive instructional strategy for use with basal readers in improving reading comprehension, strategy use, and attitude toward reading was investigated. Thirty‐one children in two fourth‐grade classrooms served as subjects in the experiment. Twenty students in a self‐contained classroom served as the treatment group while eleven students in a second self‐contained classroom served as the control. All subjects in both groups were administered the Metropolitan Achievement Test, Reading Attitude Inventory, and the Index of Reading Awareness in September prior to the treatment and again at the end of the treatment the following May. The experimental treatment was based on the instructional strategies proposed by Schmitt and Baumann (1986) that describe how teachers can incorporate the use of comprehension monitoring strategies into the guided reading phase of basal reader instruction. Results indicated that children can be taught how to use metacognitive reading strategies and techniques during basal reader instruction. Average fourth‐grade readers who received metacognitive skills training had greater reading comprehension, greater knowledge about reading strategies, and more positive attitudes toward reading than children in the control group.

A curriculum strategy that expands time for in‐depth elementary science instruction by using science‐based reading strategies: Effects of a year‐long study in grade four

AbstractAn integrative curriculum strategy emphasizing science process skills and hands‐on activities expanded the time allocated for in‐depth science instruction by replacing a district‐adopted basal reading program with science‐content reading designed to facilitate applied comprehension skills. This study investigated the combined effect of these curricular components (i.e., in‐depth science, science‐content‐based reading) upon student achievement, attitudes, and self‐confidence in both science and reading over the school year. In doing so, teachers in three fourth‐grade classrooms each incorporated applied reading (and language arts) objectives into science reading activities as part of a daily, expanded, in‐depth science teaching block that encompassed the total instructional time originally allocated to reading and science. Using multivariate covariance analysis, results showed that the students in the experimental group, compared to demographically similar controls, not only displayed significantly greater standardized test achievement as measured by the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills reading subtest and the Metropolitan Achievement Test science subtest, but also displayed a more positive attitude toward science and reading and greater self‐confidence in learning science. Implications of the strategy for future curriculum research in science education are discussed.

An Examination of the Concurrent Validity of the Basic Academic Skills Samples (BASS)

This study is a concurrent validation of the Basic Academic Skills Samples (BASS) in which the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests and the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT) were used as criterion measures. A total of 413 students in grades 1 through 6 were administered the BASS, the Gates-MacGinitie, and the MAT. Computed across grade levels, correlations between relevant BASS subtests and standardized achievement tests were.85 for reading,.79 for math,.81 for spelling, and.61 for written expression. In all instances correlations for specific grade levels were lower than those computed across grade levels, but there were no identifiable correlational patterns across grade levels. Depending on the particular subtests employed, there was between 42% and 62% overlap in the students who fell into the bottom 15% of a specific BASS subtest and the corresponding achievement test. Although the relationships among the BASS, the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, and the Metropolitan Achievement Test were reasonably strong it appeared that the BASS and the standardized measures did not identify identical populations of at-risk students.

Success outcomes of full-day kindergarten: More positive behavior and increased achievement in the years after

This statewide longitudinal study was designed to investigate the effects of kindergarten schedule (half day, alternate day, and full day) and prior preschool attendance on elementary children's success (achievement, incidence of grade retention, provision of special educational services, and classroom behavior). Academic data are summarized from two phases of the study: a retrospective analysis of children's outcomes related to kindergarten attendance in 27 school districts in the years 1982, 1983, and 1984; and a prospective analysis of two cohorts of children, one entering kindergarten in fall 1986 in 27 school districts and one in fall 1987 in 32 school districts. Behavioral outcome data are reported in detail. Existing data found in cumulative folders, representing scores from 13 different standardized tests, and various outcome data were analyzed for the retrospective study. Outcome data for the ongoing study were gathered from the Metropolitan Readiness Tests (administered in kindergarten), the Metropolitan Achievement Tests (administered in first grade), and the Hahnemann Elementary School Behavior Rating Scale (administered in kindergarten). Results from the longitudinal study indicate that children who attend preschool prior to kindergarten experience greater subsequent success in elementary school than those who do not. Results from both phases of the study indicate that participation in full-day kindergarten is positively related to subsequent school performance, at least through first grade. Additional analyses demonstrate the significant impact of age at entrance to kindergarten and of gender.

Correlation of Sensory Integration and Praxis Test Scores with Metropolitan Achievement Test Scores in Normal Children

Correlation of Sensory Integration and Praxis Test Scores with Metropolitan Achievement Test Scores in Normal Children