Achievement progress is steeper for students tested at younger ages, especially in math¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2022 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Decadal math gains are largest for students tested at age 9/4th grade (0.23sd–0.39sd across surveys) and smallest for older students (no more than 0.06sd). → M. Danish Shakeel · Paul E. Peterson 2022 q3 i? Reading gains are modest at all ages, with little evidence that cohort advances vary by testing age in reading. → M. Danish Shakeel · Paul E. Peterson 2022 (2)

Evidence¶

M. Danish Shakeel · Paul E. Peterson 2022¶

M. Danish Shakeel · Paul E. Peterson. (2022). A Half Century of Progress in US Student Achievement: Agency and Flynn Effects, Ethnic and SES Differences. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09657-y

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Differential Trends by Age results, shown in Fig. 1 and Tables 2–3, report math change per decade by age group: younger students gain most, early-adolescent gains range from –0.10sd (PISA) to 0.27sd (NAEP), and older students gain "no more than 0.05sd on the NAEP and 0.06sd on the LTT".

"The steepest upward trend is observed among students tested in m at a younger age (Fig. 1). For those age 9 or in the 4th grade, the decadal rate of change in this subject varies between 0.23sd on the LTT to 0.39sd on the NAEP."

M. Danish Shakeel · Paul E. Peterson 2022 (2)¶

M. Danish Shakeel · Paul E. Peterson. (2022). A Half Century of Progress in US Student Achievement: Agency and Flynn Effects, Ethnic and SES Differences. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09657-y

q3 · i? · associational · r2

The same Results section reports reading trends of 0.05sd–0.09sd for younger students, about the same or negative for early adolescence, and "hardly any change at all on the LTT test" for older students.

"On rd tests, it is less clear that cohort advances vary by the age at which a student is tested. In fact, there is only modest progress detected for any age group."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Age and Developmental Stage — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Estimates of cohort achievement trends vary substantially by survey agent, with PISA reporting negative math trends — related
• Young white students progress more slowly in math and reading than Asian, black, and Hispanic students, with differences attenuating at older ages — related
• Fourth-grade cohorts in other countries also show larger math than reading gains, suggesting moderators more general than the United States — related
• US cohort achievement trends per decade are steeper in math (median 0.19sd) than in reading (median 0.04sd) across linked surveys — related
• Bottom-quartile SES students show greater progress than top-quartile students when young, but the pattern reverses at older ages — related
• Reading score trends flattened for ages 9-12 and declined at ages 9 and 12 in the grade equivalent metric by 2000 — related
• Reading and math achievement gains in 2021-22 paralleled pre-pandemic trends in many grades, with stronger rebounding in math and among younger students — related