School & test engagement
Educators need accurate assessment data to help students learn. But when students rapid-guess or otherwise disengage on tests the validity of scores can be affected. Our research examines the causes of test disengagement, how it relates to students’ overall academic engagement, and its impacts on individual test scores. We look at its effects on aggregated metrics used for school and teacher evaluations, achievement gap studies, and more. This research also explores better ways to measure and improve engagement and to help ensure that test scores more accurately reflect what students know and can do.
“No fun games”: Engagement effects of two gameful assessment prototypes
This study examines the impact of two “gameful assessment” prototypes on student engagement and teacher perceptions among 391 Grades 3–7 students and 14 teachers in one Midwestern and one Northwestern school.
By: Meg Guerreiro, Chase Nordengren
Topics: School & test engagement, Innovations in reporting & assessment
Identifying disengaged survey responses: New evidence using response time metadata
In this study, we condition results from a variety of detection methods used to identify disengaged survey responses on response times. We then show how this conditional approach may be useful in identifying where to set response time thresholds for survey items, as well as in avoiding misclassification when using other detection methods.
By: James Soland, Steven Wise, Lingyun Gao
In this article, we examined the prevalence of rapid guessing to determine if this behavior varied by grade, subject, and teacher, and evaluated if rapid guessing influenced teacher value-added estimates. We observed differences in rapid guessing across grades, subjects, and teachers; however, this behavior did not appear to have a substantive effect on teacher value-added estimates.
By: Andrew Rice
Topics: School & test engagement, Student growth & accountability policies
This study examines whether test effort differs by student subgroup, including by race and gender. The sensitivity of achievement gap estimates to any differences in test effort is also considered.
By: James Soland
Topics: Equity, School & test engagement
Achievement gaps are a metric of fundamental importance to U.S. practice and policy. Gap estimates are often used to measure the effectiveness and fairness of the education system at a given point in time, over the course of decades, and as children progress through school.
By: James Soland
Topics: Equity, School & test engagement, Student growth & accountability policies
Are test and academic disengagement related? Implications for measurement and practice
In this study, we examine whether behaviors indicative of academic disengagement like chronic absenteeism and course failures are related to behaviors indicative of test disengagement like rapidly guessing on items.
By: Emily Wolk, Sharon Bi, Tran Keys
Topics: High school, School & test engagement, Social-emotional learning
This paper briefly discusses the trade-offs involved in making such a transition, and then focuses on a relatively unexplored benefit of computer-based tests – the control of construct-irrelevant factors that can threaten test score validity.
By: Steven Wise
Topics: Measurement & scaling, Innovations in reporting & assessment, School & test engagement