Product and Process: Evaluation Practices and Fifth-Grade Achievement in ECLS-K (Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten)

• In Event: Roundtable Session 52
  In Roundtable Session: Diagnostic and Formative Assessments for Young and Exceptional Learners

Abstract

This paper uses data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K 1998) to distinguish patterns if evaluation practices among students' 5th-grade teachers and examine the relationship between evaluation practices and student achievement. Specifically, it tests Guskey’s (1996) three-part model of evaluation practices and seeks to explore the extent to which outcome-oriented evaluation increases student learning relative to other evaluation practices. Principal component factor analysis demonstrates that 5th-grade teachers reported evaluation practices in line with the three categories of evaluation practice described by Guskey. Further analysis suggests that among seven evaluation criteria included in the study, students achievement benefits most from an emphasis on effort, while an emphasis on behavior in evaluation has a negative effect on achievement.

Author

• J. Edward Guthrie, Vanderbilt University