National Test Scores Research Articles

Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Student Performance and Evaluation Scores.

In March 2020, the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine suspended in person clinical teaching due to the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID) pandemic. During this period, virtual cases, telehealth participation, and online cases were incorporated into medical education. We have examined the effects of educational outcomes of third and fourth year students throughout clerkship performance, national standardized test scores, and our local fourth year OSCE examination. We found that USMLE step 2 scores were higher in the COVID-affected group. Patient logs in the COVID-affected group were lower for internal medicine, family medicine, OBGYN, and psychiatry clerkships. Clerkship performance grades in the COVID-affected group were lower for OBGYN and higher for surgery and psychiatry, but not different in other clerkships. USNBME subject specific examination scores in the COVID-affected group were higher for internal medicine, surgery, family medicine and psychiatry, but not different in all other specialties. For the fourth year OSCE, students in the COVID-affected group performed better on note taking and worse on physical examination. Future investigations will be needed to explore how our COVID-affected medical students perform in residency and beyond.

Unintended consequences of school accountability reforms: Public versus private schools

In this paper, we show that the public provision of information on Australian schools’ average national test score outcomes via the My School website, launched in 2010, resulted in poorly performing schools testing fewer students in subsequent years. This increased non-participation in testing was driven primarily by formal parental withdrawal, and poorly performing students were much more likely to be withdrawn from testing. This phenomenon is consistent with schools attempting to ‘game’ the system to improve published test scores. We also provide weaker evidence that withdrawal responded more strongly to initial poor performance in independent private schools than in government schools.

A Statistical Analysis of Vietnamese High School English Test Score Data

This statistical study, perhaps the first of its kind in Vietnamese academia, has tried to understand the patterns in high school students’ pre-college national exam test scores which hold tremendous significance in students’ college or university admissions. English belongs to one of the three mandatory subjects (the other two being Mathematics and Literature) where students must be tested as part of their overall evaluation. However, since English is a foreign language for the learners, many high school students, especially those from rural areas, struggle to attain an acceptable level of proficiency. Meanwhile, a good proportion of students, particularly those in urban areas and with their own substantial financial resources, do attend extra tutorial classes to gain an edge in English proficiency. In this study we have analyzed the provincial mean and median test scores over a period of three years (2019, 2020 and 2021). It has been noted that a province’s aggregate performance depends heavily on - (i) the province’s per capita gross domestic product (PCGDP), which measures a province's economic prosperity; and (ii) the average number of students per high school (ANSHS) which indicates the overall competitive environment the students encounter which helps them sharpen their language proficiency.

Development of an Instructional Model to Enhance Competency in the Thai Language for Grade 6 Students

This study introduces a novel learning management model aimed at enhancing Thai language proficiency in sixth-grade students. Confronting challenges such as inadequate teaching resources and a lack of student-centric, practical activities in current Thai language education, this model integrates six key components: foundational principles and theories, clear objectives, diverse learning processes, social systems, responsive teaching, and supportive resources. The approach emphasizes student engagement, self-directed learning, critical thinking, and applicability in real-life situations. Employing a rigorous research and development (R&D) methodology, the study involved analyzing existing educational conditions, developing the instructional model, assessing its impact, and seeking expert validation. The model demonstrated substantial improvements in students’ knowledge, skills, and attributes, as evidenced by the effectiveness index (E.I.) and expert assessments. These evaluations confirmed the model’s suitability, practicality, and beneficial impact on language proficiency. 
 
 The results indicate that integrating self-directed learning, experiential activities, and collaborative techniques significantly enhances language skills. The study underscores the need for adaptive learning strategies, varied instructional media, and comprehensive assessment methods. The model’s success in improving national test scores showcases its potential applicability and effectiveness in diverse educational settings. This research contributes a validated, effective framework for Thai language teaching, highlighting experiential learning, social collaboration, and the integration of ICT. Its successful application in Thai educational contexts suggests its potential for broader adoption in primary language education globally.

From unequal injuries to unequal learning? Socioeconomic gradients in childhood concussions and the impact on children's academic performance

Previous research identifies stark socioeconomic disparities in child injuries, yet research on the repercussions hereof on other aspects of children's lives remains sparse. This paper tests whether social gradients in minor traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs or concussions) contribute to corresponding inequalities in children's academic performance. Previous research on this topic is mostly based on small samples and confounded by non-random selection into experiencing mTBIs. We improve on prior research by using high quality, large N, administrative registry data. Further, we control for selection into having an mTBI via comparing the test score progression of children having an mTBI with children who experience an mTBI in later years (staggered difference-in-differences). Based on Danish ER/hospital records and national test score data, we find that children from families with lower earnings and less education are more likely to experience an mTBI and that having an mTBI negatively correlates with reading test scores. However, comparing present with future mTBI cases, we show that having an mTBI within a year before a test does not negatively affect children's reading scores. Our findings suggest that negative correlations between mTBIs and academic performance more likely reflect socioeconomic gradients in mTBI incidents rather than a direct causal effect. Further, socioeconomic gradients in mTBI incidents do not significantly contribute to corresponding disparities in academic performance.

Predicting new student performances and identifying important attributes of admission data using machine learning techniques with hyperparameter tuning

Recently, many global universities have faced high student failure and early dropout rates reflecting on the quality of education. To tackle this problem, forecasting student success as early as possible with machine learning is one of the most important approaches used in modern universities. Thus, this study aims to analyze and compare models for the early prediction of student performance with six machine learning based on Thailand’s education curriculum. A large dataset was collected from the admission scores of 5,919 students during 2011-2021 of 10 programs in the Faculty of Science at Ubon Ratchathani University. The methodology was carried out using Jupyter Notebook, Python 3, and Scikit-Learn to build the models for prediction. To obtain a higher result, we needed not only to find high-performance prediction models, but also to tune hyperparameter configurations consisting of 138 possible different patterns to identify the best-tuned model for each classifier. Furthermore, we investigated significantly important predictors affecting student success for 10 programs in our faculty. In the experiments, the process was divided into two parts: First, we evaluated effective models using a confusion matrix with 10-fold cross-validation. The results showed that random forest (RF) had the highest F1-measure of 86.87%. While predictive models using fine-tuned RF of 10 programs claimed accuracy of about 72% to 93%. Second, we computed the importance of each feature with fine-tuned RF classifiers. The result showed that national test scores (e.g., ONET-English, ONET-Math, ONET-Science, ONET-Social studies, ONET-Thai, and PAT2), entry type, and school grade (e.g., art, English, GPA, health, math, science, and technology) are highly influential features for predicting student success. In summary, these results yield many benefits for other relevant educational institutions to enhance student performance, plan class strategies and undertake decision-making processes.

Economic growth and quality of education: Evidence from the national high school exam in Vietnam

This study considers the impact of economic growth on the quality of K-12 education in a transitional country over the 2016–2019 period, utilizing sub-national-level data. The study employs two-stage least squares for the panel-data model, confirming that (i) a one percentage point rise in per capita income increases national test scores in Vietnam by around 0.4–1.83%, and (ii) this nexus is influenced by the quality of institutions and by poverty levels. Notably, we find a non-linear relationship between economic growth and education: economic growth exhibits a U-shaped relationship with English scores, while its association with mathematics scores follows an inverse U-shaped pattern. The current study thus adds to the body of evidence supporting the link between educational quality and economic growth. As a result, policymakers in transitional nations can use the forces of economic growth to advance social objectives, rather than concentrating primarily on changing the educational system through increased government spending. In order to maximize the benefits of economic growth for the education system, the government policies should focus on assuring institutional quality improvement and multidimensional poverty reduction.

On the path towards understanding Malaysian boys and girls’ interest and participation in literacy

ABSTRACT This paper explores the differences between boys and girls in the context of the literacy-based examination, presented through Malaysian national test scores, together with teacher interviews to gain insights regarding boys’ and girls’ English literacy achievement. The findings will bridge the gaps so that the scenario of literacy gender differences in schools can be better comprehended and handled by relevant parties. This study, an amalgamation of students’ performance in literacy examinations and the English teachers’ views on differences between boys and girls, can further inform the gender gap issue because schools remain central in which students gain core language literacy skills.

From face-to-face to remote evaluation of teacher-education candidates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although teacher's personality is an essential component of successful classroom learning, most teacher education programs accept students solely on the basis of scholastic ability scores such as school grades, national test scores (SAT, GRE) or undergraduate college transcripts. To ensure suitability to teaching, a personality-evaluation system was developed in Israel for teacher education candidates. This evaluation system includes non-cognitive measures, such as group dynamic exercises, simulations, a teaching exercise, situational judgement tests, personality tests and an inter-personal interview, all performed face-to-face (FTF) at a testing center. The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 brought about lockdowns and social distancing, precluding the administration of this FTF evaluation system. Therefore, the development team adapted the system to online remote testing, using Zoom technology. The present study examined the effect of this transition to remote evaluation on the quality of selection for teaching, looking at suitability-to-teaching scores and the subjective views of applicants and evaluators. A comparison of the 2020 remote scores with the 2019 FTF scores revealed that scores on remote evaluation were slightly lower than FTF scores, and were more centralized. While the candidates found that remote evaluation provided fewer opportunities to express themselves, both candidates and evaluators were satisfied with the administration and convenience of the evaluation day. The Discussion chapter summarizes the unique affordances and constraints of remote evaluations and presents suggestions for changes which might be made when moving an assessment online that could take advantage of this new environment.

Uncovering heterogeneity in achievement during the Covid-19 pandemic: Math grades trajectories and their predictors in middle school

The study aimed to uncover the potential heterogeneity and its predictors in middle school students’ math achievement during the Covid-19 pandemic. The data covered yearly math grade point averages in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade and national test scores for a cohort of 17,685 Lithuanian students (49.1% females). Growth mixture modeling showed that between 2020 and 2022, most students showed a slight normative decline in their math achievement. Still, a few distinct subgroups have demonstrated either a steep decline or a slow to a rapid increase in their math grades, while almost one-third consistently underperformed in math. The findings reveal substantial heterogeneity in students’ results during the pandemic. Understanding these differential patterns can help target pandemic-related educational recovery efforts more accurately.

Link of outdoor exposure in daycare with attentional control and academic achievement in adolescence: Examining cognitive and social pathways

Contact with nature during early childhood has many benefits, both in the short and the long term. However, explanatory mechanisms remain understudied. This study examined the long-term association of the time children spend outdoors in daycare with attentional control and academic achievement by early adolescence. It was also tested whether cognitive (i.e., inattention-hyperactivity symptoms, working memory) or social (i.e., prosocial behavior, peer acceptance) pathways during early childhood can explain such associations. We used a multi-informant longitudinal design to follow 555 children over 10 years (45% retainment rate). Working memory was assessed using the digit span test, peer acceptance was assessed using peer ratings, while children's inattentive-hyperactive and prosocial behaviors were rated by teachers. Registry data with results from national standardized test scores were used to assess academic achievement, and adolescents provided self-report ratings on attentional control. Time spent outdoors and relevant control variables were based on information provided by daycare managers and parents. Structural equation analyses showed a direct positive association between outdoor time in daycare and attentional control in adolescence, and an indirect cognitive pathway linking outdoor time in daycare to academic achievement in adolescence via enhanced working memory in early childhood. In conclusion, time spent outdoors may be an accessible way to enhance children's social, cognitive, and academic functioning, with potential long-term benefits.

Do TV‐aided model lessons in class improve student performance? Evidence from public primary schools in Papua New Guinea

AbstractLack of access to high‐quality education remains a serious concern in many developing countries. This is especially the case for rural areas, including islands suffering from a shortage of skilled teachers and sufficient educational equipment. We examine the impact of introducing TV‐aided model lessons in class to enhance the quality of teaching (the EQUITV project) on the national examination test scores of Mathematics and “Combined Subject” (a comprehensive subject comprising 30% science and 70% social studies and other topics) as well as English in the final year of primary education in Papua New Guinea. We employ a panel event study to capture the different timings of the intervention across schools over multiple time periods. We find that the project significantly and robustly improved test scores for girls only in English 3 years after the introduction of the project, but no improvement was seen for boys.

Learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of emergency remote instruction on first grade students’ writing: A natural experiment.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the sudden cancellation of in-class instruction for many students around the world presented an unprecedented disruption in children's education. As the COVID-19 pandemic took form, multiple concerns were raised about the potential negative impact on students' learning. The current study examined this proposition for children's writing. We compared the quality of writing, handwriting fluency, and attitude toward writing of first grade Norwegian students during the COVID-19 pandemic (421 girls, 396 boys), which included emergency remote instruction for almost 7 weeks, with first grade students in the same schools a year before the pandemic began (835 girls, 801 boys). After controlling for variance due to national test scores, school size, proportion of certified teachers, students per special education teacher, school hours per student, student gender, and native language, we found that students attending first grade during the pandemic had lower scores for writing quality, handwriting fluency, and attitude toward writing than their first grade peers tested a year earlier before the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. Implications for policy and instruction as well as future research are presented. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement In December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus was identified, and it spread across the world quickly causing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, presenting unprecedented challenges for the education of school-age children. This study examined the impact of the pandemic and the temporary 7 week replacement of in class learning with online instruction on the writing of first grade children in Norway. First grade students tested shortly after the end of online instruction displayed a learning loss, having lower scores on measures of writing quality, handwriting fluency, and attitude toward writing than first grade children from the same schools tested a year earlier before the start of the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

How Should I Teach from This Month Onward? A State-Space Model That Helps Drive Whole Classes to Achieve End-of-Year National Standardized Test Learning Targets

Every month, teachers face the dilemma of what exercises their students should practice, and what their consequences are regarding long-term learning. Since teachers prefer to pose their own exercises, this generates a large number of questions, each one attempted by a small number of students. Thus, we could not use models based on big data, such as deep learning. Instead, we developed a simple-to-understand state-space model that predicts end-of-year national test scores. We used 2386 online fourth-grade mathematics questions designed by teachers, each attempted by some of the 500 students in 24 low socioeconomic schools. We found that the state-space model predictions improved month by month and that in most months, it outperformed linear regression models. Moreover, the state-space estimator provides for each month a direct mechanism to simulate different practice strategies and compute their impact on the end-of-year standardized national test. We built iso-impact curves based on two critical variables: the number of questions solved correctly in the first attempt and the total number of exercises attempted. This allows the teacher to visualize the trade-off between asking students to perform exercises more carefully or perform more exercises. To the best of our knowledge, this model is the first of its kind in education. It is a novel tool that supports teachers drive whole classes to achieve long-term learning targets.

Educational attainment in Swedish (L1) and English (L2) for students with reading difficulties: a longitudinal case study from primary to the end of secondary school

ABSTRACT This longitudinal case study examines reading difficulties identified in Grade 2 and Grade 6 national assessment test (NAT) scores in relation to Grade 9 NAT in Swedish (L1) and English (L2). A norm-referenced screening was used in Grade 2 to assess word reading and reading comprehension. In line with the simple view of reading, four subgroups were identified: (1) Typical reading development, (2) Word reading difficulties, (3) Reading comprehension difficulties, and (4) Mixed difficulties. Results indicate that reading difficulties in primary school have long-standing implications for educational attainment in Swedish and English. In logistic regression models students with reading difficulties in Grade 2 and low Grade 6 NAT-scores had a higher probability to achieve low attainment levels in Grade 9. This implies that a norm-referenced screening in Grade 2 can be useful for identifying students at risk of low attainment in language subjects at the end of compulsory school.

Mayoral Control and School Superintendents: Lessons from Japan

Background/Context: Since the early 1990s, the United States has been witnessing reforms in large, high-visibility cities, with mayors granted the power to appoint school boards, superintendents, or both. This shift away from elected school board governance has been characterized as marginalizing traditional educators and ushering in reforms that traditional educators oppose. On the other hand, Japan’s experience with mayoral control of schools is nationwide and longer-lived. In 1956, mayors were given authority to appoint members of the school board, and in 2015 they were given further authority to appoint school superintendents. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This study analyzes whether Japanese mayors appoint superintendents whose backgrounds make them likely to challenge the education establishment and introduce dramatic educational reforms. We provide some early evidence on how mayors have been using their new powers and how they interact with the superintendents they select. Research Design: We used data from nationwide surveys conducted by the Japanese government to map the broad pattern of superintendent characteristics over time as well as for a sampling framework to identify and select a smaller number of superintendents to be interviewed for obtaining in-depth information. Semistructured interviews of six superintendents were conducted to delve more deeply into the relationship between mayors and superintendents, and the communication between the superintendents and the school board members in Japan. To triangulate the interview data, transcripts of school board meetings, city council meetings, election bulletins (official campaign manifestos), demographic data, and national test scores of students were collected from 2015 to 2019. Conclusions/Recommendations: We identified important differences between the United States and Japan. Rather than aligning with the reform-oriented mayors against school boards and education bureaucracies, the Japanese mayor-appointed superintendents act as mediators between the mayors and the school boards. The difference may be that, in the United States, only mayors who sought mayoral control had the right to appoint school superintendents, whereas in Japan the national government gave all mayors the right to appoint superintendents, regardless of the political context.

Differences in High- and Low-Performing Students’ Fraction Learning in the Fourth Grade

The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine the differences between high- and low-performing students’ development of fraction proficiency over a school year and to investigate how those differences were related to instruction in fractions versus instruction in other mathematics topics. The data for this study were drawn from a group of (n = 398) students from 21 fourth-grade classes, from which we formed two subgroups: the 25% highest performing students (n = 99) and the 25% lowest performing students (n = 100), based on their Danish national test scores. The students’ fraction proficiency levels were studied over eight months at five measurement time points. A multiple linear regression analysis with random effects was used to model the test scores. The results showed that the high-performing students developed their fraction proficiency during most of the school year—both when instructed in fractions and, more surprisingly, when instructed in other mathematics topics. In contrast, low-performing students only developed their fraction proficiency while being instructed in fractions. Finally, the gap between high- and low-performing students’ fraction proficiency widened both when the students were taught lessons on fractions and when they were taught other topics in mathematics.

An investigation into the socioeconomic factors correlated with PISA reading scores

Literacy is a fundamental skill that is essential to navigate daily life in modern society. Its importance is emphasized by Target 4.6 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which aims to “ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy” by 2030. This study utilized indicators of the Human Development Index to determine the socioeconomic factors most correlated to a country’s youth literacy rates, as measured by its score on the literacy section of the Programme for International Assessment (PISA). We examined the relationship between national PISA reading test scores and nine socioeconomic factors: a country’s mean years of schooling, primary school enrollment, secondary school enrollment, gross domestic product (GDP), GDP per capita, government spending on education, life expectancy, infant mortality, and total population. Triennial data spanning from 2000 to 2018 was gathered for over 80 countries and analyzed by year using simple linear regression models. A combination of Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, and Python libraries was used to analyze the relationship between literacy and our chosen socioeconomic factors to determine which of the factors were most strongly correlated with youth literacy rates. Our results were interpreted using R2 and Pearson correlation coefficient values. From these results, we concluded that infant mortality, mean years of schooling, and life expectancy exhibit the strongest correlations with PISA test scores, suggesting that the strength of a country’s healthcare system is highly orrelated with its quality of education.

National Exam Elimination Policy by Student during The COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract. This study aims to find out the impact of the elimination of national examinations according to junior high school students during the covid-19 pandemic in Batu. This type of research is descriptive analysis with qualitative approach. Data analysis in this study uses source triangulation. Data analysis is taken by reducing data, summarizing all data results, and presented in narrative form and then concluded. The number of research subjects was 6 junior high school students in Batu, as well as data collection techniques, namely observation and interviews. Data analysis in this study is in the form of presentation of data in a short description. The results of data analysis showed that in the implementation of national examinations there is a positive impact that students are encouraged to actively study and negative impacts that students experience psychological and mental pressures because they have to master the learning materials to be tested. Students' graduation is seen from the national test scores to apply to the intended school. This happens so that a policy arises that is the elimination of national examinations.Keywords: Policies, National Examinations, Students, Covid-19 Pandemic Period.

Intentional Self-Regulation and Executive Functions: Overlap and Uniqueness in Predicting Positive Development Among Youth in Iceland

This study examined relations between intentional self-regulation (ISR) and executive functions (EFs) among 84 Icelandic youth in Grade 6 (mean age 11.7 years; 51% girls) and their contributions to healthy and problematic outcomes a year later. ISR was indicated by the Selection, Optimization and Compensation model (SOC) and Self-Regulated Learning (SRL). EF was indicated by attention shifting, inhibition, and working memory (WM). Only WM was related to ISR. Furthermore, ISR tended to uniquely predict Grade 6 outcomes, but the inverse was less true. In Grade 7, EF but not ISR uniquely predicted national test scores, and symptoms of depression and anxiety, whereas ISR remained a stronger predictor of Positive Youth Development (PYD) and risk behavior. These findings suggest a limited relation between ISR and EF, and that ISR is important to the general well-being of youth, whereas EFs may play a role in the development of problems and academic achievement.