Articles by Benjamin Shear

This paper investigates differences between male and female student performance on multiple-choice (MC) versus constructed-response (CR) items used on the large-scale math and reading PISA tests. The results, based on data for high school-aged students in 35 countries including the US, provide consistent evidence that on average male students tend to earn relatively higher scores on MC test items whereas female students tend to earn relatively higher scores on CR test items. The pattern was consistent across countries, although the magnitude of differences varied by country and were larger on average in reading than in math. Policymakers, researchers, and other audiences using test scores to compare student achievement across gender groups should consider the types of item formats used on tests when interpreting results.

This paper describes threats to making valid causal inferences about pandemic impacts on student learning based on cross-year comparisons of average test scores. The paper uses Spring 2021 test score data in Colorado to compare three different statistical adjustments that have been used to make inferences about pandemic impacts. Results illustrates how unadjusted cross-year comparisons may be misleading and highlight instances when the statistical adjustments can lead to different conclusions about the relative impacts for different groups of students.

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic led to historic changes in public school enrollment in the US. There has been considerable interest in quantifying the magnitude of these changes, and in understanding their causes and consequences (e.g., Dee & Murphy, 2021). An analysis of enrollment data across all 50 states and the...

This is an addendum to a report prepared for the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) by the Center for Assessment, Design, Research & Evaluation (CADRE) at CU Boulder (Shear et al., 2021). CDE requested an addendum to the 2021 CADRE report presenting similar descriptive analyses for schools that participated in the Connect for Success (CFS) program and providing initial descriptive analyses of academic outcomes for schools participating in two other Empowering Action for School Improvement (EASI) programs: The Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS) and Accountability Pathways Planning and Implementation (Pathways).

For this report, we analyzed longitudinal administrative data collected by the Colorado Department of Education to track the academic performance of schools. The analyses contained in this report focus on the set of schools receiving School Turnaround Network (STN) and School Turnaround Leadership Development (STLD) supports.

This report focuses on one particular technical choice CDE must make when deciding which version of the SGP model to use in measuring student growth, namely whether these measures should be based on so-called cohort or baseline-referenced SGPs.

Link to Resource: Between-Year Stability of Growth Percentiles : Technical Brief #3 Authors: Benjamin R. Shear and Elena Diaz-Bilello The purpose of this research brief for the Colorado Department of Education Accountability & Data Analysis Unit is to examine the stability of year‐to‐year median growth percentiles by assessment content area...

Link to Resource: Growth Percentiles, Achievement & Demographics: Technical Brief #1 - 2019 Author: Benjamin R. Shear and Elena Diaz-Bilello The purpose of this research brief for the Colorado Department of Education Accountability & Data Analysis is to address to what extent are school‐level Median Growth Percentiles correlated with current...

Link to Resource: Factors Impacting Growth Percentile Variability: Technical Brief #2 - 2019 Author: Benjamin R. Shear and Elena Diaz-Bilello The purpose of this research brief for the Colorado Department of Education Accountability & Data Analysis Unit is to address the question, compared to achievement, how much of the variability...

Link to Resource: Summary of Median Growth Percentile Analyses: Descriptive Statistics, Demographics Correlations, and Stability Analyses Authors: Benjamin R. Shear Citation: Shear, B.R. (2019). Summary of median growth percentile analyses: Descriptive statistics, demographics correlations, and stability analyses. Boulder, CO: The Center for Assessment, Design, Research and Evaluation (CADRE).