The Stability of Academic Achievement in School: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies (Poster 10)

• In Event: Evidence for Enhanced Learning: Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses on Improving Student Achievement and Learning Outcomes

Abstract

Findings for the rank-order stability of school achievement are highly relevant for our understanding of the development of students’ achievement. However, we know little about the conditions under which this stability is higher or lower. The present meta-analysis of longitudinal studies reports the rank-order stability of school marks and achievement tests. A total of 1,990 test-retest correlation coefficients from 363 studies were compiled. The mean rank-order stability, estimated for Grade 5 and a test-retest interval of two years, was ρ = .70. Stability was lower for school marks than achievement tests, especially for long test-retest intervals. It remained relatively constant across grade levels and decreased with increasing test-retest intervals. The stability varied between both school domains and countries.

Authors

• Moritz Lion Breit, University of Trier

• Vsevolod Scherrer, University of Trier

• Franzis Preckel, University of Trier