Abstract:

State standardized tests are woven into our accountability systems and research evaluation fabric. However, while many factors influence standardized academic tests, they are primarily considered a reflection of students’ academic skills and underlying cognitive ability, which research has shown is less malleable after age 10. We leverage a unique data set of over 5,000 students that combines assessments of cognitive skills with state test scores across subjects and grades. We find the relationship between cognitive skills and state test scores is one-third and half as large in 10^th grade compared to 5^th grade in ELA and Math, respectively. We also provide novel evidence on how achievement on different item types is associated with cognitive skills. Questions that require judgment and application to real-world context are more cognitively demanding. Our results suggest that improvements in state standardized tests might be more malleable to instruction as students grow older, and in particular subjects.