1. Quasi-experimental Research: Benchmark Assessment and Improved Student Achievement
A Tale of Two Studies: Clayton County Public Schools and West Virginia Linda Bond, Research Scientist CTB/McGraw-Hill

2. By: Daniel Lewis, Senior Research Scientist CTB/McGraw-Hill
Clayton County Public Schools
Acuity and Growth on the Georgia Criterion- Referenced Competency Tests in Clayton County: A Quasi-Experimental Study
By: Daniel Lewis, Senior Research Scientist CTB/McGraw-Hill

3. Clayton County Public Schools Quasi-Experimental Study: CCPS Student cohorts.
Treatment Length
N with matched pretest (Spring 2007 CRCT) and posttest (Spring 2009 CRCT) scores
Pre-test
Treatment Grades
Post-Test 1
2 years
2,720
Grade 1 Math CRCT (Spring 2007)
Grades 2 and 3 during the and academic years
Grade 3 Math CRCT (Spring 2009) 2
2,739
Grade 2 Math CRCT (Spring 2007)
Grades 3 and 4 during the and academic years
Grade 4 Math CRCT (Spring 2009) 3
2,807
Grade 3 Math CRCT (Spring 2007)
Grades 4 and 5 during the and academic years
Grade 5 Math CRCT (Spring 2009) 4
1 year
3,217
Grade 1 Math CRCT (Spring 2008)
Grade 2 during the academic year
Grade 2 Math CRCT (Spring 2009) 5
3,214
Grade 2 Math CRCT (Spring 2008)
Grade 3 during the academic year 6
3,257
Grade 3 Math CRCT (Spring 2008)
Grade 4 during the academic year 7
3,232
Grade 4 Math CRCT (Spring 2008)
Grade 5 during the academic year
These seven cohorts represent students with matched CRCT scores from the pretest to the posttest. Approximately 70 – 80% of the students in CCPS who could have been in the cohort had matched CRCT scores and the difference in CRCT scores between the matched CCPS cohorts and the unmatched CCPS cohorts were from .01 to .07 standard deviation units apart.

4. Equivalent Control Groups
99% student-by-student matching on:
Pretest CRCT score
Gender
Ethnicity
IEP Status
ELL Status
Title I status
School SES status
Moderate to high level of internal validity
District-wide school implementation, testing & professional development
School or classroom effects cannot be completely controlled
Low to moderate External validity
Results may be generalizable to other settings (student by student matching)
Replicable results…

6. Differences in percent of CCPS cohorts Meeting or Exceeding Standards on Posttest
Treatment Group % Meets or Exceeds Standards on Posttest
Control Group % Meets or Exceeds Standards on Posttest
Difference in % Meets or Exceeds Standards on Posttest:
Treatment Group - Control Group 1
69.23
67.32
1.9* 2
64.22
64.55
-0.3 3
74.92
71.49
3.4 4
81.04
82.10
-1.1 5
68.33
70.07
-1.7 6
63.19
58.86
4.3 7
73.70
70.39
3.3
* Bolded values are associated with statistically significant cohort differences identified in Table 5.

7. Acuity Usage and WESTEST 2 Performance
A Quasi-Experimental Study by the WVDE Office of Assessment, Accountability and Research

8. West Virginia DOE Study – Quasi-Experimental

9. Summary and Conclusions
The research supports the efficacy of the Acuity system in CCPS to accelerate achievement over that of the status quo in the rest of the state. Moderate effect sizes were observed in each case of statistical significance.
Ongoing Efficacy research planned
Randomized, control studies
Learning Point Associates research in Indiana
Future research efforts – Hambleton & Sireci