Exist Tests and What They Mean

While I have been most concerned with exit tests in higher education, there is not so much difference in the underlying issues between higher education and secondary education.

An interesting story on the Chronicle of Higher Ed site yesterday reported that a soon-to-be published study evaluated the effectiveness of high-school exit tests on improving academic achievement among graduates. The study¹ found that there was no such improvement; when compared to the "gold standard" national test, exit test scores did not predict achievement on the gold standard test. Interesting. A similar story was reported last year² in the Chronicle.

What do these tests mean if they have little relationship to the criterion test (i.e., the gold standard)?

1. Schmidt, P. (2008, May 13). State high-school exit tests do not improve academic achievement, study finds. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/05/2820n.htm.

2. Basken, P. (2007, September 14). High-school exit tests don't mean readiness. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i03/03a01804.htm.