Achievement Test Standardized Achievement History 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which federal law, enacted in 1965, was one of the first to tie federal funding to student performance data?
- Elementary and Secondary Education Act (Correct answer)
- National Defense Education Act
- Higher Education Act
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Correct answer: Elementary and Secondary Education Act
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 established federal funding for K-12 education and laid groundwork for accountability through student data.
Question 2: The Nation's Report Card is the informal name for which long-running national assessment?
- National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) (Correct answer)
- Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)
- Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS)
- Stanford Achievement Test
Correct answer: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
NAEP, administered by the National Center for Education Statistics, has been called the Nation's Report Card since the 1970s.
Question 3: Which 1983 report warned of a 'rising tide of mediocrity' in American education, spurring widespread achievement testing reform?
- A Nation at Risk (Correct answer)
- Goals 2000
- America 2000
- Improving America's Schools Act
Correct answer: A Nation at Risk
'A Nation at Risk,' published by the National Commission on Excellence in Education, triggered a wave of state-level testing and curriculum standards.
Question 4: What term describes the practice of adjusting raw achievement test scores to a fixed reference group so scores remain comparable across years?
- Norm-referencing
- Criterion-referencing
- Scale score equating (Correct answer)
- Vertical scaling
Correct answer: Scale score equating
Scale score equating is the statistical process used to ensure scores on different test forms or years are on the same numerical scale.
Question 5: Which organization first administered the SAT in 1926, making it one of the earliest large-scale standardized tests in the U.S.?
- College Entrance Examination Board (Correct answer)
- Educational Testing Service
- American College Testing Program
- National Merit Scholarship Corporation
Correct answer: College Entrance Examination Board
The College Board (College Entrance Examination Board) administered the first SAT in 1926, though ETS was later created in 1947 to develop and score it.
Question 6: The Stanford Achievement Test was first published in which decade?
- 1920s (Correct answer)
- 1940s
- 1960s
- 1980s
Correct answer: 1920s
The Stanford Achievement Test was first published in 1923, making it one of the earliest commercially available standardized achievement batteries in the U.S.
Question 7: Which international assessment, first administered in 2000, measures 15-year-olds' reading, math, and science literacy across dozens of countries?
- Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) (Correct answer)
- Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
- Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)
- International Baccalaureate Assessment
Correct answer: Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
PISA, administered by the OECD every three years, benchmarks 15-year-olds across participating nations in reading, mathematics, and science.
Achievement Test Standardized Achievement History 2
Which federal law, enacted in 1965, was one of the first to tie federal funding to student performance data?