Standardized Academic Achievement Tests Research Articles

The mediating role of neurocognitive functions in the relation between physical competencies and academic achievement of primary school children

Previous studies into associations between physical, neurocognitive and academic skills have reported inconsistent results. This study aimed to get more insight into these relations by examining all three domains simultaneously, testing a complete mediational model including measures of physical competencies (cardiovascular fitness and motor skills), neurocognitive skills (attention, information processing, and core executive functions), and academic achievement (reading, mathematics, and spelling). Dutch primary school students (n = 891, 440 boys, mean age 9.17 years) were assessed on the Shuttle Run Test (cardiovascular fitness), items of the Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder and Bruininks-Oseretsky Test-II (fundamental motor skills), computerized neurocognitive tests, and standardized academic achievement tests. A multilevel structural equation model showed that physical competencies were only indirectly related to academic achievement, via specific neurocognitive functions depending on the academic domain involved. Results provide important implications, highlighting the importance of well-developed physical competencies in children.

Refocusing Civic Education: Developing the Skills Young People Need to Engage in Democracy

Schools have traditionally taken a “just-the-facts-ma’am” approach to civic education, focusing on governmental structures and political systems. We argue that preparing young people to engage with democracy requires far more than rote memorization of facts and figures. Schools should be laboratories of democracy, where young people’s civic intentions are converted into civic behaviors. We argue that to realize that transformation, educators must impart real-world knowledge, practical skills, and nurturing abilities that are not captured by standardized tests of academic achievement: namely, the interpersonal and intrapersonal abilities conducive to civic mindedness. We discuss what these oft-labeled “noncognitive” skills are and how they are measured, review the evidence that shows how they foster democratic participation, articulate a vision for how civics can help develop students’ noncognitive skills, and lay out a research agenda for scholars seeking to teach young people the skills requisite to actively participate in democracy.

Examination of Psychometric Evidence for Criterion-Referenced Scores from the SSIS SEL Brief Scales

Efficient and intuitive interpretive frameworks for social-emotional learning (SEL) measures are necessary for identifying student needs and informing programming decisions across multitiered systems of support in schools. Though familiar to educators and often used with standardized tests of academic achievement, criterion-referenced frameworks are less common in SEL assessment. As such, the current study examined the psychometric evidence for scores from one such framework, the Competency-Referenced Performance Framework, which was developed to inform universal screening decisions based on the SSIS SEL Brief Scales (Elliott et al., 2020). Specifically, we evaluated stability, test-criterion relationships with academic outcomes, and treatment sensitivity of the CRPF using data from an efficacy trial of a universal SEL program. Results provided preliminary supportive evidence for the CRPF.

Friendships, Rejection, and Standardized Test Scores Over Time

Peer acceptance has been consistently linked with academic performance. Acceptance, however, is often a measure of overall peers’ impressions of a child, and not their own interest in being friends. Friendship nominations reflect a stronger, more persistent, peer endorsement than acceptance, and rejection nominations, similarly, reflect more direct negative feelings. In addition, most data on these relationships are from schools with children from middle class backgrounds who are predominantly White. This study focuses on friendship and rejection nominations among a sample of predominantly African American children ( N = 221) from low socioeconomic backgrounds in a large city in the Northeastern United States. All students in 10 classrooms from Grades 3 to 5 ( n = 123) and 6–8 ( n = 98), completed friendship and rejection measures, as well as standardized academic achievement tests, each Spring for 2 years. Reading and math scores increased for both groups over time. Friend and rejection nominations increased over time for younger students but decreased in the older group. Among younger students, friend nominations in the first year were related to reading performance in the second year. However, there were no relations between social variables in Year 1 and standardized test scores in Year 2 within the older grade group. Thus, focusing on both social and academic involvement in the elementary years may help improve student performance.

Examining the effects of ADHD symptoms and parental involvement on children’s academic achievement

ObjectiveOur understanding of the role of parental involvement in academic outcomes for children with ADHD is limited, with mixed evidence suggesting a positive association between parental involvement and academic achievement for pediatric ADHD but limited evidence regarding how this varies based on ADHD symptom severity, ADHD symptom domains, or co-occurring ODD symptoms. In this context, the present study aimed to examine the effects of parental involvement, ADHD symptoms, and comorbid ODD on children’s overall, reading, and math achievement. MethodA well-characterized clinically-evaluated sample of 162 children recruited through a university-based children’s learning/behavioral health clinic and community resources (ages 8–13; 50 girls; 69% Caucasian/Non-Hispanic) were administered standardized academic achievement tests, with parents and teachers completing measures of parental involvement and ADHD symptoms, respectively. ResultsInattention, but not hyperactivity-impulsivity, was associated with lower academic achievement in all tested models (β= -.16 to -.22, all p < .03). Surprisingly, parental involvement had significant negative associations with math and overall academic achievement (β= -.13 to -.26, both p< .05) and did not moderate the relations between ADHD symptoms and academic achievement in any tested model. Comorbid ODD symptoms did not significantly predict academic achievement or interact with parental involvement in any tested model. These findings were robust to control for child IQ, age, sex, SES, anxiety, and depression. ConclusionParental involvement may not serve as a protective factor against academic underachievement for children with clinically elevated ADHD symptoms, and may predict lower rather than higher academic achievement for clinically evaluated children in general.

Strategies, recommendations, and validation of remote executive function tasks for use with young children

Research and development on remote assessments and services have been slowly progressing over the past decade in the areas of telehealth, telemedicine, and psychological e-Visits. However, much less research has focused on understanding whether neuropsychological and educational assessments can be converted for remote use with young children. In the present study, we tested the feasibility of administering a remote battery of executive function (EF) tasks to preschool students. These tasks were converted from widely used EF assessments and were administered to children in their homes remotely via Zoom Video Communications web conferencing services. Based on our experiences in the field, we described the task conversion process; highlighted the unique challenges and solutions to obtaining accurate and reliable data remotely; and presented psychometric findings from a preliminary study of 97 preschool students (Mage = 53.2 months; 53% Female; 55% Black, 33.7% White, 7.9% biracial, 2.2% "other," 1.1% Asian/Pacific Islander; 7.2% Latine). Results revealed that the remotely assessed Day and/or Night Stroop task, Dimensional Card Change Sort (DCCS) task, Revised Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS-R) task, and Digit Span Forward task demonstrated strong evidence of normality, were highly reliable, and were related to children's academic achievement. Further, associations between our remote EF measures and standardized tests of academic achievement were stronger for math than for reading achievement. Overall, this study represents a first step towards developing a protocol for task conversion and remote administration of EF measures with young children.

The relationship between extracurricular music activity participation and music and Chinese language academic achievements of primary school students in China

In this study, we explored the relationship between extracurricular (formal and informal) music activity participation and music and Chinese language academic achievements of primary school students in China. Fourth graders ( N = 10,958) reported their demographic information and extracurricular music activity participation, and completed two standardized academic achievement tests, one on music and another on the Chinese language. Results showed that students’ music activity participation was related to higher music academic achievement after controlling for gender, school location, and family socioeconomic status. The effect of students’ informal music activity participation on their music academic achievements was greater than that of students’ formal music activity participation. Remarkably, students’ informal music activity participation was also positively related to their Chinese language academic achievement, while formal music activity participation showed a negative correlation with academic achievement in Chinese language. Findings contributed to an increased understanding of the influence of different kinds of extracurricular music activities on students’ academic developments.

Personal belief exemptions for school-entry vaccinations, vaccination rates, and academic achievement

Nonmedical exemptions from school-entry vaccine mandates are receiving increased policy and public health scrutiny. This paper examines how expanding the availability of exemptions influences vaccination rates in early childhood and academic achievement in middle school. We leverage 2003 legislation that granted personal belief exemptions (PBE) in Texas and Arkansas, two states that previously allowed exemptions only for medical or religious regions. We find that PBE decreased vaccination coverage among Black and low-income preschoolers by 16.1% and 8.3%, respectively. Furthermore, we find that those cohorts affected by the policy change in early childhood performed less well on standardized tests of academic achievement in middle school. Estimated effects on test scores were largest for Black students and economically disadvantaged students.

Excess Body Mass Attenuates The Effects Of Acute Exercise On Preadolescent Brain Function And Cognition

PURPOSE: This study investigated the transient effects of an acute bout of aerobic exercise and excess body mass on cognitive and brain function in preadolescent children. METHODS: Thirty-nine children (8-10yrs; 16 females) completed baseline and demographic questionnaires, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and VO2max tests. Children were randomly allocated into a within-subjects crossover intervention design including 20-minutes of restful reading and 20-minutes of treadmill walking. Children completed post-intervention cognitive tasks that tap inhibition (Go-NoGo, flanker) with EEG (P3-ERP), and standardized tests of academic achievement in reading and math. SUMMARY OF RESULTS: Following the treadmill walking intervention, children of normal weight (NW) demonstrated improved response accuracy (p≤0.05), shorter reaction times (p≤0.05), and larger P3-ERP amplitudes (p≤0.05) during the Go task, relative to children with obesity (OB). Additionally, after the walking intervention, NW children demonstrated a trend for larger P3 amplitude (p=0.068) during the NoGo task. NW children also demonstrated shorter reaction times (p=.041), and reduced perceptual interference (p=0.039) compared to OB children during the flanker task. Lastly, NW children demonstrated improved performance on academic achievement tests of reading and math after the walking intervention, compared to OB children (p≤0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that the beneficial effects following an acute bout of aerobic exercise on cognitive and brain function may be attenuated in children with obesity. These results provide evidence indicating that neuroelectric and behavioural indices of attention, inhibition, and academic achievement are influenced by aerobic exercise and body mass in children. Given that childhood obesity is a public health concern with an array of health complications, these results have important implications for the physical and cognitive health of children. Grant Funding: Supported by NIH Grant R01 HD094054

Financial Independence and Academic Achievement: Are There Key Factors of Transition to Adulthood for Young Higher Education Students in Colombia?

Autonomy is conceptualized as the need for agency, self-actualization, and independence. Nowadays, financial independence and academic achievement for young populations may be considered as key aspects in the transition to adulthood in response to some contextual demands of different cultural environments. By means of a multi-level model, the present study aims to determine the influence and contribution of factors at individual level (e.g., sex, age, socioeconomic status, family financial support, awarded scholarships, personal finance, student loans) and school level (e.g., program quality, online programs, face to face programs) on the academic achievement of young higher education Colombian students. Data come from the scores of the national standardized academic achievement test administered in 2018 in Colombia. The sample included 234,386 students enrolled in 3,389 higher education institutions in Colombia. After controlling the effects of program quality, and the student’s previous academic abilities and socio-economic conditions, results showed that students with scholarships had higher scores than financially dependent students (those who had student loans) and financially independent students (those who self-funded their studies or who worked during the week) who had low scores in the national standardized academic achievement test.

0371 Educational Disparities in U.S. Elementary School Children are Related to Sleep Duration and Bedtimes

Abstract Introduction Sleep is vital for healthy development in children. Suboptimal sleep health may play an under-appreciated role in educational achievement gaps among vulnerable student populations. Students of color, students from economically disadvantaged homes, and students with disabilities are especially likely to experience poor sleep. Sleep deficiency could interfere with school functioning, including academic achievement. Methods Longitudinal data from the nationally-representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K: 2011) included ~12,000 students. We tested the hypothesis that parent-reported child sleep duration (typical hours per night) was associated with academic achievement trajectories (3rd-5th grade). We further tested the extent to which this relation is linked to parent-reported bedtimes in kindergarten. Preregistered analyses (osf.io) used structural equation path modeling, stratified by racial/ethnic group (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian), disability status, and socioeconomic status (SES) tertiles. Students were assessed using psychometrically-validated standardized academic achievement tests. Results Children with later kindergarten bedtimes had shorter sleep duration across 3rd-5th grade. Children with shorter sleep duration also had poorer achievement in 3rd grade. The path by which sleep associates with achievement differed by vulnerable subgroups. Among children from average- or high-SES families, earlier bedtimes were related to higher reading achievement growth across 3rd-5th grade, but not among children from low-SES families. For children with disabilities, longer sleep duration was significantly and positively associated with growth in reading achievement across 3rd-5th grade, but this relation among children with disabilities was not evident within racial or ethnic groups or SES strata. Conclusion Sleep duration, a modifiable behavioral factor, may be a promising target of intervention in families for promoting healthy childhood sleep health behaviors. Results provide evidence that age-appropriate bedtimes and adequate sleep duration could be promoted among vulnerable populations including students with disabilities. For instance, although most screening instruments do not currently evaluate sleep or sleep disorders, assessing and treating disability or behavioral difficulties could include such evaluations for clinical and parent consideration. Support Penn State Center for Educational Disparities Research

Relationships Between Physical Activity Level, Health-Related Fitness, Academic Achievement, and Academic Self-Concept

Recently, the time allocated for physical education and physical activities in schools is gradually decreasing. Because schools, in order to get high scores on national standardized academic achievement tests, devote more time to other academic courses instead of devote time for physical education or physical activity (Rasberry et al., 2011). In Turkey, this problem is mostly seen at eighth grades that is the transition class from middle school to high school. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between physical activity level, health-related fitness, academic achievement and academic self-concept at eight grade students who will attend the national standardized academic achievement test. In this research, the descriptive research method and purposeful sampling were used to determine the direction and level of change between the variables involved in the study. The relationship between variables was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis (Karasar, 2017). The socioeconomic level that could affect physical activity and academic achievement variable were equalized. After the equalization process, seventy-six girls (51,7 %), seventy-one boys (48,3%) totally 147 eighth grade student have participated in the study. The personal information form, physical activity questionnaire for adolescents, Fitnessgram Test Battery, national standardized academic achievement test and the academic self-concept subdomain of Self-concept inventory-I was used for data gathering tools. In conclusion, there was a statistically meaningful, positive but weak correlation between physical activity, academic achievement, and academic self-concept level. In addition, there was a positive correlation between health-related physical fitness parameters and academic achievement score, while there was no significant relationship between health-related fitness parameters and academic self-concept scores in both girls and boys.

Personal Belief Exemptions for School-Entry Vaccinations, Vaccination Rates, and Academic Achievement

Nonmedical exemptions from school-entry vaccine mandates are receiving increased policy and public health scrutiny. This paper examines how expanding the availability of exemptions influences vaccination rates in early childhood and academic achievement in middle school. We leverage 2003 legislation that granted personal belief exemptions (PBE) in Texas and Arkansas, two states the previously allowed exemptions only for medical or religious regions. We find that PBE decreased vaccination coverage among black and low-income preschoolers by 16.1% and 8.3%, respectively. Furthermore, we find that those cohorts affected by the policy change in early childhood performed less well on standardized tests of academic achievement in middle school. Estimated effects on mathematics and English Language Arts test scores were largest for black students, especially those residing in economically disadvantaged counties.

Teacher-rated school readiness items in a kindergarten sample: Outcomes in first grade.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of a brief and feasible universal screener for kindergarten readiness for predicting follow-up outcomes in first grade. Participants included kindergarten and first-grade teachers and students from 6 urban elementary schools. Students included slightly more males than females (54%; 46%), the race/ethnicity of the students was predominantly African American (74%) or White (23%), and 36% of students qualified for free or reduced lunch. Data included in this study were collected for children in the fall (October) of their kindergarten year and the Spring (April) of their first-grade year. Kindergarten teachers completed single-item ratings of student readiness as well as full-scale ratings of student behaviors and academic competence. Students also completed a standardized academic achievement test. Main findings from this study include that the single-item screener continued to predict negative academic and social behavior outcomes at a follow-up 18 months later. The percentage of unique variance explained by the readiness items was significant and, in the majority of cases, remained significant even after the baseline variables were entered into the analyses. Children rated poor in their academic readiness were over 9-10 times as likely to have low reading performance at the end of their first-grade year. Furthermore, children rated as poor in their behavior readiness were at over 6 times greater risk for low prosocial and high disruptive behavior teacher ratings in first grade. The screener could be used to screen for children low in readiness in order to provide supports and monitoring for early intervention. Kindergarten entry is a critical time to screen children and support them in developing skills to ameliorate deficits and build essential early academic and social behavior skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Importance of aerobic fitness and fundamental motor skills for academic achievement

ObjectivesAerobic fitness and fundamental motor skills have both been related to children’s academic achievement. Results of studies that have simultaneously related aerobic fitness and fundamental motor skills to academic achievement have provided inconsistent results, and the exact relations with achievement in distinct academic domains remain unknown. The current study examined unique relations between aerobic fitness, fundamental motor skills, and achievement in reading, mathematics and spelling. MethodIn total, 891 students (mean age = 9.17 years, SD = 0.66) from 22 primary schools participated. Two multilevel structural equation models were constructed, with relations between aerobic fitness (20m-shuttle run test), fundamental motor skills (tested with items of the Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder and Bruininks-Oseretsky Test for Motor Proficiency) and: (1) overall academic achievement, or; (2) achievement in the domains of reading, mathematics, and spelling (assessed with standardized academic achievement tests). ResultsFundamental motor skills were more strongly related to overall academic achievement than aerobic fitness, but the exact relations differed by academic domain. Aerobic fitness predicted spelling achievement, whereas motor skills predicted reading achievement, and both were predictive of mathematics achievement. ConclusionsAlthough more research is needed to disentangle the exact way in which aerobic fitness, motor skills, and academic achievement are linked, the results suggest that children’s academic achievement benefits most from engagement in various physical activities which target both aerobic fitness and gross motor skills. These findings emphasize the importance of providing children with opportunities to engage in a wide variety of sports and activities.

Academic skills in children with autism spectrum disorders with monolingual or bilingual experience

Background and aims The academic development of children with autism spectrum disorders is important to investigate as it can provide opportunities for higher education, independent living, and successful employment in adulthood. Although educational data find that children with autism spectrum disorders can achieve similar levels of academic achievement in inclusive settings as neurotypical children, little is known about how children with diverse language experiences with autism spectrum disorders develop academically. Research on neurotypical, bilingual children finds that although many may lag behind their monolingual peers on measures of academic achievement, these gaps can be minimized with bilingual education programs. Within clinical practice, concerns are still raised about bilingual exposure in children with autism spectrum disorders, with assumptions and recommendations made to limit the language of exposure to minimize risks to development. To improve the evidence-base on bilingual experience in children with autism spectrum disorders, the present study will examine whether basic academic skills (i.e., word reading, numerical operations, spelling) vary as a function of language experience (i.e., monolingual vs. bilingual). Methods The data presented in this study were based on medical records of children with autism spectrum disorders who visited a clinic in a large, urban city in the United States. Records were included for this study if children had information/data on language status, nonverbal cognition, and standardized scores for reading, math, and spelling on a standardized academic achievement test. The final sample included children with autism spectrum disorders with monolingual language experience ( n = 18) or bilingual language experience ( n = 13). Results Repeated measures analysis of variance analyses found that children with autism spectrum disorders with monolingual experience had higher scores on word reading skills when compared to children with autism spectrum disorders with bilingual experience. However, a different pattern was found for numerical operations, with children with autism spectrum disorders with bilingual experience outperforming children with autism spectrum disorders with monolingual experience. No differences were found between groups on spelling skills. Conclusions The preliminary findings suggest that bilingual language experience may be related to early literacy and math skills in children with autism spectrum disorders. It may be that word reading skills are slower to develop among children with autism spectrum disorders with bilingual experience due to the development of two linguistic profiles. Math skills may be enhanced in children with autism spectrum disorders with bilingual experience through the mediation of other cognitive skills (e.g., executive functioning). Implications: This preliminary study demonstrates that bilingual experience does not negatively affect the development of academic skills in children with autism spectrum disorders. Further exploration of how bilingual experience may benefit children with autism spectrum disorders is needed.

Student Profiles and Academic Achievement in Mexican Middle Schools

The aim of the study was to describe student profiles associated with educational achievement from four sets of personal variables: psychological, academic, health, and technology use. A representative sample of middle school students from Baja California, Mexico, was given an ad hoc questionnaire and academic results were obtained from a standardized academic achievement test. Cluster analysis k-means allowed us to define two student profiles. Equal numbers of students were found in both groups, with Cluster 1 grouping high-achieving students and Cluster 2 those with a lower level of educational achievement. All of the personal variables help to describe and differentiate between the two groups, except for the number of times they have changed schools.

Sustainability of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Community Setting.

This study examined whether outcomes in early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) during a university-led multisite project could be replicated by the same community agency independently of the project. Participants, age 18 to 75 months at onset of intervention, were 48 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enrolled in 35 hr per week of publicly funded, community-based EIBI for 3 years and 46 children who were matched on baseline characteristics and received early childhood services as usual (SAU) through local early childhood special education providers. Linear mixed models indicated that EIBI participants improved significantly more than SAU participants on standardized tests of IQ, nonverbal IQ, adaptive behavior, and academic achievement, administered by independent evaluators. Although limited by the use of a matched comparison group rather than random assignment, the study provides evidence for the sustainability of effective EIBI in community settings for children with ASD who start intervention at varying ages throughout early childhood.

The Link Between Nutrition and Physical Activity in Increasing Academic Achievement.

Research demonstrates a link between decreased cognitive function in overweight school-aged children and improved cognitive function among students with high fitness levels and children engaging in regular physical activity (PA). The purpose of this study was to examine whether regular PA and proper nutrition together had a significant effect on academic achievement. Using the seventh wave of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class 1998-99 (ECLS-K) dataset, linear regression analysis with a Jackknife resampling correction was conducted to analyze the relationship among nutrition, PA, and academic achievement, while controlling for socioeconomic status, age, and sex. A nonactive, unhealthy nutrition group and a physically active, healthy nutrition group were compared on standardized tests of academic achievement. Findings indicated that PA levels and proper nutrition significantly predicted achievement scores. Thus, the active, healthy nutrition group scored higher on reading, math, and science standardized achievement tests scores. There is a strong connection between healthy nutrition and adequate PA, and the average performance within the population. Thus, results from this study suggest a supporting relationship between students' health and academic achievement. Findings also provide implications for school and district policy changes.

Terminal Cancer: Finding Hope in Truth

Death is, arguably, the single most important event in life. Yet it tends to be ignored until ignoring it is not longer possible. Death and dying are not components of the primary or secondary curriculum, and questions on these subjects are absent from standardized tests of academic achievement and aptitude.