Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.
Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
A COMPARISON OF INDIVIDUALIZED CRITERION REFERENCED TEST AND CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT TEST NORMAL CURVE EQUIVALENTS
Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the Individualized Criterion Referenced Test (ICRT) yields valid and reliable results of student reading achievement when its results are expressed in terms of Normal Curve Equivalents (NCEs). Delimitations. Pre and post NCEs from the ICRT and California Achievement Test (CAT) for the 1978-79 school year were examined. NCEs belonging to twenty students from each of the second, fourth, and sixth grade levels at the Santo Nino Elementary School were randomly selected. Santo Nino Elementary School was located in a low socio-economic neighborhood in Laredo, Texas. Null Hypotheses. The null hypotheses for the study were: (1) There is no statistically significant difference between pre-CAT and pre-ICRT reading achievement as measured by NCEs among second, fourth, and sixth grade students. (2) There is no statistically significant difference between post-CAT and post-ICRT reading achievement as measured by NCEs among second, fourth, and sixth grade students. (3) There is no statistically significant difference between pre- to post-CAT and ICRT reading gains as measured by NCEs among second grade students. (4) There is no statistically significant difference between pre- to post-CAT and ICRT reading gains as measured by NCEs among fourth grade students. (5) There is no statistically significant difference between pre- to post-CAT and ICRT reading gains as measured by NCEs among sixth grade students. (6) There is no statistically significant difference in pre- to post-CAT reading gains as measured by NCEs among second, fourth, and sixth grade students. (7) There is no statistically significant difference in pre- to post-ICRT reading gains as measured by NCEs among second, fourth, and sixth grade students. (8) There is no statistically significant test-retest reliability between pre-test and post-test administrations of the CAT and ICRT. (9) There is no statistically significant coefficient of correlation between the pre-test NCEs of the CAT and those of the ICRT. (10) There is no statistically significant coefficient of correlation between the post-test NCEs of the CAT and those of the ICRT. (11) There is no statistically significant relationship between the pre-test NCEs on the ICRT and the post-test NCEs on the CAT. (12) There is no statistically significant relationship between the NCEs on the post-CAT, as predicted through regression, and the post-test NCEs on the CAT which were actually attained. Findings. The study of CAT and ICRT Normal Curve Equivalents showed that second, fourth, and sixth grade students scored higher in the ICRT. This was evident in both pre- and post-test administrations. Significant relationships were found between the post-CAT and ICRT at the second grade level, the pre-CAT and ICRT at the fourth grade level, and the post-CAT and ICRT at the sixth grade level. In a comparison of predicted vs. actual CAT Normal Curve Equivalents, significant relationships at the .01 level were found in the second and fourth grade levels. Computations for the sixth grade level barely missed the significant level. The findings and this "near miss" suggests further investigation of whether the measurement of different evaluation instruments can be made congruous through the use of NCEs.
Subject Area
Curricula|Teaching
Recommended Citation
TREVINO, JOSE RAFAEL, "A COMPARISON OF INDIVIDUALIZED CRITERION REFERENCED TEST AND CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT TEST NORMAL CURVE EQUIVALENTS" (1980). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8100444.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8100444