Lake Woebeguaranteed:
Misuse of Test Scores in Massachusetts, Part I

Walt Haney
Boston College

 

Abstract

Misuse of test results in Massachusetts largely guarantees woes for both
students and schools. Analysis of annual test score averages for close to 1000
Massachusetts schools for four years (1998–2001) shows that test score gains
in one testing period tend to be followed by losses in the next. School averages
are especially volatile in relatively small schools (with less than 150 students
tested per grade). One of the reasons why scores fluctuate is that the
Massachusetts state test has been developed using norm-referenced test
construction procedures so that items which all students tend to answer
correctly (or incorrectly) are excluded from operational versions of the test.
This article concludes with a summary of other reasons why results from state
tests, like that in Massachusetts, ought not be used in isolation to make
high-stakes decisions about students or schools.

click here for full text