Test Frequency, Stakes, and Feedback in Student Achievement: A Meta-Analysis

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Learning Sciences
• Assessment

Background:

• Research identifies test frequency, stakes, and feedback as key factors influencing student achievement.
• These elements are crucial in understanding educational outcomes and student performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the separate and combined effects of test frequency, stakes, and feedback on student achievement.
• To analyze interactions among these three treatments using multivariable meta-analytic techniques.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive meta-analysis of 149 English-language studies from 1910-2010, encompassing 509 effect size estimates.
• Robust variance estimation was employed, with hundreds of study features examined as potential moderators.

Main Results:

• A collective effect size of 0.84 was found for the three treatments (testing, stakes, feedback).
• Benefits were observed from incremental additions of testing and feedback, or stakes and feedback.
• Higher effect sizes were linked to recent publications, summative testing, constructed response formats, and subject matter alignment.

Conclusions:

• Test frequency, stakes, and feedback collectively exert a significant positive influence on student achievement.
• Optimizing educational testing involves strategic implementation of these factors, considering specific study characteristics for maximum impact.