Evaluating the consequential aspect of validity on the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards

Abstract

High stakes tests have become a prominent tool in the systemic reform movement documenting the need for change and serving as the instrument of educational change. The primary purpose of this investigation was to determine whether the positive consequences associated with high stakes test use and interpretation in Arizona were shared among all grade levels, not just the tested grades. Additionally, a curriculum alignment variable was examined to observe its association with curricular and instructional change. The AIMS Questionnaire was developed using principal components with varimax rotation and the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix (Campbell & Fiske, 1959). The questionnaire was administered to elementary teachers using a Posttest-Only with Nonequivalent Groups quasi-experimental research design (Cook & Campbell, 1979) where teachers in the nontested grades (1, 2, and 4) served as the comparison group. A two-factor analysis of variance was performed to examine the primary hypothesis, and the Pearson Product Moment correlation was computed to observe the strength of the relationship between the curriculum alignment variable and the curricular/instructional change variable. Results of the analysis suggested that positive consequences were not equally shared among all grade levels in the elementary school. Additionally, the curriculum alignment variable accounted for less than 2% of the variance in the change variable. It is recommended that policymakers use a randomized testing model and select a new grade level and a new form of the test each year. Further, educational leaders should use curriculum alignment strategies with caution as they may be viewed as top-down change strategies that constrain a teacher's creativity. Future researchers should consider the use of predicted pattern testing (Levin & Neumann, 1999) to statistically examine the system-wide effects of a high-stakes assessment designed to impact student learning.