Standards and School Dropouts: A National Study of Tests Required for High School Graduation
Standards and School Dropouts: A National Study of Tests Required for High School Graduation
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标准和辍学：高中毕业所需考试的全国研究
DOI：
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发表时间：
1989
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
J. Catterall
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
J. Catterall
本文报道了美国中学最低能力测试的研究。分析的重点是学生在获得高中文凭之前必须通过的考试。这些测试对低成就的高中生的影响进行了探讨。一个特别令人关切的问题是，考试不及格可能会降低学习愿望，从而促使作出辍学的决定。这项研究是基于对选定州的教育工作者和学校管理人员进行的一系列深入访谈，以及与700多名高中生面对面收集的数据。在一组调查结果中，考试协调员、学校校长和学校辅导员的报告一致反映了笼罩在高中毕业考试中的传统观念：认为所需的能力测试现在是如此初级，以至于它们不会成为完成学业的障碍。但与此同时，这些教育工作者一致报告说，他们没有关于辍学诱因问题的具体数据。与此相反，学生们报告的经历对这种传统智慧构成了可信的挑战。尽管绝大多数学生声称能力测试政策是有益的，出于各种原因，我们发现，最初的测试失败者更有可能表示怀疑他们完成文凭的机会。在一个预测自我报告的完成高中学业的机会的完全指定的通用模型中，未能通过全部或部分必要的毕业考试是对毕业前景产生怀疑的一个强大的独立因素。沿着考试成绩，该模型评估了早期年级保留，学习成绩，同伴文化和家庭背景对完成学业的信心的影响。研究结果的影响，政策制定和教育实践进行了探讨。
This article reports a study of minimum competency testing in American secondary schools. The analysis focuses on tests that students must pass before they receive the high school diploma. The effects of these tests on low-achieving high school students are explored. A particular concern is the possibility that test failure may reduce academic aspirations and thereby contribute to decisions to drop out of school. The study is based on a series of in-depth interviews with educators and school administrators in selected states, and on data collected face-to-face with more than 700 high school students. In one cluster of findings, the reports of test coordinators, school principals, and school counselors provide consistent echoes of a conventional wisdom that has enveloped high school exit exams: the belief that required competency tests are now so rudimentary that they cannot present much of a barrier to school completion. But at the same time, these educators report with uniform consistency that they do not have specific data on the question of dropout inducement. In contrast, the students report experiences that pose a credible challenge to this conventional wisdom. Despite a strong majority of students claiming competency-testing policies to be beneficial for a variety of reasons, we found that initial test failers are significantly more likely to express doubts about their chances of completing the diploma. In a fully specified general model that predicts self-reported chances of finishing high school, failing all or part of a required exit test is a robust independent contributor to doubts about the prospects of graduating. Along with test performance, this model assesses the effects of earlier grade retention, academic performance, peer culture, and family background on confidence in finishing school. Implications of the findings for research, policy-making, and educational practice are explored.