The reading test's floor threshold at a pre-test score of 69 constrains measured gains for the lowest-scoring pupils¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2014 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2017: tool and model accuracy changes quickly

Subclaims¶

q3 i? A threshold effect at the lowest available score (69) means progress of some low achievers was underestimated, and could disproportionately depress apparent FSM gains. → Gorard et al. 2014

Evidence¶

Gorard et al. 2014¶

Stephen Gorard, Beng Huat See, Nadia Siddiqui. (2014). Switch-on Reading: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary. Education Endowment Foundation. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evaluation

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Crossplot analysis of pre- and post-test scores (Figure 2) in the randomised trial; 94 of 308 pupils scored 69 at pre-test, and the report states this means "the progress of some of them will have been underestimated".

"There are pupils with a pre -test score of 69 with post -test scores ranging from 69 to 105. The flattening of the graph shows that some pre -test scores have been constrained by an artificial threshold that is higher than in reality."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Using raw rather than age-standardised scores reverses the FSM picture, yielding +0.36 for FSM-eligible pupils — related
• Switch-on Reading shows a considerably higher effect for pupils with special educational needs (+0.33) — related