Tools for measuring academic growth

Growth measurement and growth modeling have gained substantial interest in the last few years with the development of new statistical procedures and policy decisions such as the incorporation of growth into No Child Left Behind. The current study investigates the following four aspects of growth measurement: a) issues in the development of vertical scales to measure growth; b) design of instruments to measure academic growth; c) techniques for modeling individual student growth, and d) uses of growth information in a classroom. Measuring growth has always been a daunting task, but the development of measurement tools such as the Rasch model and computerized adaptive testing position us well to obtain high-quality data with which to measure and model the growth of an individual student across a course of study. This growth information, in norm-referenced and standards-referenced form, should enhance educators' ability to enrich student learning.