THE INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT STYLES OF TEXTBOOK USE ON INSTRUCTIONAL VALIDITY OF STANDARDIZED TESTS

• Published in: Journal of educational measurement Vol. 20; no. 3; pp. 259 - 270
• Main Authors: FREEMAN, DONALD J., BELLI, GABRIELLA M., PORTER, ANDREW C., FLODEN, ROBERT E., SCHMIDT, WILLIAM H., SCHWILLE, JOHN R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-09-1983; National Council on Measurement in Education
• Subjects: Achievement tests; College instruction; Fractions; Mathematical validity; Mathematics curricula; Mathematics education; Mathematics teachers; Mathematics tests; Standardized tests; Textbooks
• ISSN: 0022-0655; 1745-3984
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-3984.1983.tb00204.x

Earlier content analyses provided evidence that the match in content covered by textbooks and tests varies as a function of the textbook and test a teacher has been asked to use. This investigation attempts to determine if the congruity in textbook-test content also varies as a function of different styles of textbook use. Using year-long case studies of seven teachers as a guide, five distinct styles of textbook use were identified. The percent of items on each of five standardized tests that focused on topics covered in each style of using the Holt fourth-grade mathematics textbook was then determined. Student opportunities to learn content covered on the CTBS-II and Metropolitan tests varied across the five styles. However, for the CTBS-I, Iowa, and Stanford tests, measures of instructional validity did not vary across four of the five styles considered, despite clear differences in topics emphasized in each style. Across all tests, instructional validity was far lower for the management-by-objectives model than for any other style of textbook use.