Statewide Proficiency Testing : Establishing Standards or Barriers? / James F. Lanese.

To answer several questions about the Ohio statewide high school proficiency testing program, correlations of student performance on the ninth-grade proficiency test with other measures of reading and mathematics were studied for approximately 4,600 students in the Cleveland (Ohio) City School District. The performance of students from higher versus lower poverty level school districts on the Ohio proficiency test was also studied. Measures of reading and mathematics achievement were the norm-referenced and criterion-referenced tests obtained as local achievement measures in Cleveland (California Achievement Test and Cleveland Competency Test). The rates of Ohio proficiency test passage for ninth graders were compared for 31 Ohio school districts including Cleveland. Both analyses supported the idea that the Ohio Ninth Grade Proficiency Test does represent a valid measure of the competencies of students in the Cleveland district. The comparison of tested proficiency skills with the district's stated competency objectives in reading and mathematics indicates a valid skill assessment. However, correlations between the district's measures and the Ohio proficiency test, while significant, were not strong. A strong positive relationship was found between the economic status of a district's students and their performance on the test. The Ohio proficiency test may not be adequate for all the state's students. Additional questions of the appropriateness of the test and its use await further analysis. Three references are listed. (SLD)

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