Model
Digital Document
Publisher
Florida Atlantic University
Description
In the years since the establishment of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment
test (FCAT) in 1998, the Florida public school districts have had little standardized,
diagnostic data to assist in preparation for the FCA T. The FCAT serves as a high-stakes
assessment for students as a graduation requirement, and it serves as a high-stakes
assessment for school and district accountability for the Florida A++ Plan, and for
national accountability within No Child Left Behind Act, 2001.
A quantitative study was conducted to determine if the College Board's
Preliminary Scholastic Achievement Test, PSAT/NMSQT®, could be used to predict
scores on the FCAT. More than 11 ,000 student test records ofBroward County public
school lOth graders were used for this study. Predictive discriminant analyses were
conducted using the October 2003 PSAT/NMSQT® and the March 2004 FCAT scores.
Three contextual variables: gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomics were used to determine if the variables moderate the ability of the PSAT in classifying the students as
passing the FCAT.
The study found the percent of the groups correctly classified for predicting
FCAT Reading from the PSAT Verbal scores for all subjects and each contextual
variable ranged from 75 percent to 78.70 percent. The accuracy for the PSAT Verbal
predicting failing the FCAT Reading for all of the subjects was at 84.50 percent, and the
accuracy for PSAT Verbal predicting passing the FCAT Reading was at 71.40 percent.
The study also found the percent of the groups correctly classified for predicting
FCAT Math from PSAT Math scores for all subjects and each contextual variable ranged
from 72.40 % to 76.00 percent. The accuracy for the PSAT Math predicting failing the
FCAT Math for all subjects was at 89.70 percent and the accuracy for PSAT Math
predicting passing the FCAT Math for all subjects was at 70.90 percent.
The model in this study has proven to be successful in predicting FCAT success
through the use of the PSAT scores. Recommendations for educators, both district and
school staff, include exploring optimum utilization of available data through the PSAT,
and optimum utilization of the PSAT score reports for direct intervention with students.
test (FCAT) in 1998, the Florida public school districts have had little standardized,
diagnostic data to assist in preparation for the FCA T. The FCAT serves as a high-stakes
assessment for students as a graduation requirement, and it serves as a high-stakes
assessment for school and district accountability for the Florida A++ Plan, and for
national accountability within No Child Left Behind Act, 2001.
A quantitative study was conducted to determine if the College Board's
Preliminary Scholastic Achievement Test, PSAT/NMSQT®, could be used to predict
scores on the FCAT. More than 11 ,000 student test records ofBroward County public
school lOth graders were used for this study. Predictive discriminant analyses were
conducted using the October 2003 PSAT/NMSQT® and the March 2004 FCAT scores.
Three contextual variables: gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomics were used to determine if the variables moderate the ability of the PSAT in classifying the students as
passing the FCAT.
The study found the percent of the groups correctly classified for predicting
FCAT Reading from the PSAT Verbal scores for all subjects and each contextual
variable ranged from 75 percent to 78.70 percent. The accuracy for the PSAT Verbal
predicting failing the FCAT Reading for all of the subjects was at 84.50 percent, and the
accuracy for PSAT Verbal predicting passing the FCAT Reading was at 71.40 percent.
The study also found the percent of the groups correctly classified for predicting
FCAT Math from PSAT Math scores for all subjects and each contextual variable ranged
from 72.40 % to 76.00 percent. The accuracy for the PSAT Math predicting failing the
FCAT Math for all subjects was at 89.70 percent and the accuracy for PSAT Math
predicting passing the FCAT Math for all subjects was at 70.90 percent.
The model in this study has proven to be successful in predicting FCAT success
through the use of the PSAT scores. Recommendations for educators, both district and
school staff, include exploring optimum utilization of available data through the PSAT,
and optimum utilization of the PSAT score reports for direct intervention with students.
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