Using General Outcome Measures in Mathematics to Measure Adequate Yearly Progress as Mandated by Title I

Abstract

Two critical requirements of Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 are that states use multiple measures to monitor adequate yearly progress of students served by Title I and that the primary yardstick of progress be each state's assessment system. In an effort to determine whether a general outcome measure could be considered one of these multiple measures, four alternate versions of a 15-item general outcome measure (GOM) of mathematics conceptual understanding and applications were developed and administered to 117 eighth-grade students at approximately equal intervals over the course of one year. Results of each administration were correlated with the students' scores on their state's multiple-choice mathematics achievement test. Correlations ranged from .81 to .87 with no significant differences, offering evidence of criterion validity. In addition, T-tests showed significant growth between administrations, suggesting that this GOM could be used as an alternative method of measuring adequate yearly progress.