Open AccessAn empirical test of Oklahoma’s A-F grades
Author(s) -
Curt M. Adams,
Patrick B. Forysth,
Jordan K. Ware,
Mwarumba Mwavita,
Laura L. Barnes,
Jam Khojasteh
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
education policy analysis archives
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.727
H-Index - 46
ISSN - 1068-2341
DOI - 10.14507/epaa.v24.2127
Subject(s) - test (biology) , mathematics education , psychology , student achievement , academic achievement , quality (philosophy) , teacher quality , rank (graph theory) , achievement test , standardized test , mathematics , engineering , paleontology , metric (unit) , philosophy , operations management , epistemology , combinatorics , biology
Oklahoma is one of 16 states electing to use an A-F letter grade as an indicator of school quality. On the surface, letter grades are an attractive policy instrument for school improvement; they are seemingly clear, simple, and easy to interpret. Evidence, however, on the use of letter grades as an instrument to rank and improve schools is scant at best. We address the gap in the literature by using student test scores to evaluate the use of Oklahoma’s A-F grades as a school quality indicator. Achievement differences between letter grades were small and in most cases not statistically significant when student and school characteristics were held constant. School grades did not reveal large achievement gaps in the highest ranked schools. Additionally, free/reduced lunch and minority students in D and F schools outperformed peers in A and B schools.