Date of Award
6-1-1991
Document Type
Dissertation - NSU Access Only
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Abstract
This proposal describes a series of planned strategies comprising a home-school learning program to facilitate preparation for increased student achievement in grades kindergarten through fifth on the district testing instrument the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Problems originally noted that 50% of the kindergarten children tested in April, 1988 at River Plaza Elementary School, Middletown, New Jersy achieved below the district accepted passing score in mathematics while 83% of the first grade students fell below the cutoff in reading and 92% in spelling, Additionally, in all grades, except third, declines in the cluster areas of reading, mathematics and writing were noted. Investigation of the problem revealed that the vocabulary words in the first-grade test did not match those in the reading and spelling curriculum. Also, children suffered test anxiety, and were not familiar with the format of the test or the style of questioning. Although staff members addressed testing preparation, no school-wide program which could be implemented in stages throughout the school year was in place and there was no large scale reinforcement at the home level. A plan combing parent-school components in a cooperative program to address preparation for standardized testing and strategies for correcting deficiencies in test areas was developed. Proposal outcomes targeted to result in a minimum of 60% of the pupils in any grade achieved above the district acceptable passing score while reversing the score declines in cluster areas of reading, writing and mathematics were met in all grades except kindergarten and first grade. However, the developed program can be used to address similar problems in these grades in the future.