Higher course grades predict larger ACT gains regardless of starting PLAN score; students with Ds or Fs lose ground¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2008 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Among students with an eleventh-grade Reading PLAN score of 17, ACT scores rose monotonically with English grades (As averaged 18.5, Bs 18.0, Cs 17.2), while students with Ds or Fs scored below their earlier PLAN scores. → John Q. Easton 2008

Evidence¶

John Q. Easton 2008¶

John Q. Easton, Stephen Ponisciak, Stuart Luppescu. (2008). From High School to the Future: The Pathway to 20. Research Report, Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/high-school-future-pathway-20

q2 · i? · associational · r3

Analysis from the CCSR ACT preparation study of test score growth from fall eleventh-grade PLAN to spring ACT across four subject areas, controlling for other factors. Figure 7 shows the same grade-achievement relationship for Math ACT, and the report states it holds for all four subjects regardless of starting PLAN score.

"Students who got As in eleventh grade English averaged 18.5 on the ACT; students who got Bs averaged 18.0; C grades resulted in ACT scores of 17.2; and students with Ds or Fs in English actually received ACT scores lower than their earlier PLAN scores."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Strong school academic culture (academic press and college-going culture) raises ACT scores by about 0.6 points after controlling for prior PLAN scores — related
• Combined strong academic culture and high grades more than double EXPLORE-to-ACT gains at every starting score, including moving students from an EXPLORE of 17 to an average ACT of 20.7 — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Eleventh-grade ACT math scores changed similarly across schools regardless of their level of standards-related professional development — related
• CPS students make smaller improvements on sequential EPAS tests from grade to grade than students nationally with the same prior scores — related
• Ninth-grade GPA strongly predicts on-time high school graduation, with an especially large gap between F and D students — related
• The grade students receive in the corresponding subject course is the strongest predictor of improvement from one EPAS test to the next — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• On-track improvements were accompanied by across-the-board grade gains, not grade inflation from turning Fs into Ds — related
• Schools with stronger college-going cultures have higher student ACT scores, regardless of student backgrounds — related