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A New Way to Measure Elementary and Middle School Quality - Fordham Institute Report - February 2025","","Ready or Not? presents a research-based alternative approach for assessing elementary and middle school quality beyond standardized tests. It critiques existing indicator search efforts against core criteria: validity, reliability, timeliness, fairness, and trustworthiness. The report proposes using students’ subsequent grade point averages (GPA) to reduce grade-inflation incentives while capturing performance across all subjects. It outlines background, data, methodology, findings, and implications, plus appendices and endnotes.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/ready-or-not-a-new-way-to-measure-elementary-and-middle-school-quality-fordham-institute-report-february-2025/587790/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/ready-or-not-a-new-way-to-measure-elementary-and-middle-school-quality-fordham-institute-report-february-2025/587790.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Melati","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-11","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why does the report argue that standardized tests give an incomplete picture of schools’ impact?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It explains that standardized tests do not capture a full view of schools’ impacts on students, motivating the search for alternative quality indicators.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What criteria must an alternative school-quality indicator meet?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The report lists validity, reliability, timeliness, fairness, and trustworthiness as essential criteria for an indicator to be meaningful to policymakers and families.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does the proposed GPA-based measure aim to avoid grade inflation incentives?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Instead of holding schools accountable for their own students’ GPAs, it suggests rewarding schools for improving students’ grades at the next institution they attend, such as sixth-grade GPA outcomes for elementary schools.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},587790,1792251855,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},962085570644,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_994ba38a5ba835b3df7d355c54d3ed8d","About Fordham  \nThe Thomas B. Fordham Institute promotes educational excellence for every child in America via quality research, analysis, and commentary, as well as advocacy and exemplary charter school authorizing in Ohio. It is affiliated with the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, and this publication is a joint project of the Foundation and the Institute. For further information, please visit our website at [fordhaminstitute.org. The](fordhaminstitute.org. The) Institute is neither connected with nor sponsored by Fordham University.  \nSuggested Citation  \nJing Liu, Ph.D. Seth Gershenson, Ph.D. and Max Anthenelli. Ready or Not? A New Way to Measure Elementary and Middle School Quality. Washington D.C.: Thomas B. Fordham Institute (February 2025). [https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/ready-or-not-new-way](https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/ready-or-not-new-way)measure-elementary-and-middle-school-quality  \nAcknowledgments  \nThis report was made possible by our sister organization, the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, as well as by numerous individuals whose efforts are reflected in the final product. First among those equals are the authors, Jing Liu, Seth Gershenson, and Max Anthenelli, whose persistence and professionalism was essential to the project's success. We also thank Dan Goldhaber and Jeff Denning for their clear and thoughtful feedback on the research methods. And here at Fordham, we thank Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Michael J. Petrilli for providing feedback on the draft, Stephanie Distler for managing report production and design, and Victoria McDougald for overseeing media dissemination.  \nContents  \nForeword ...............................................................................................................................3  \nIntroduction ........................................................................................................................ 11  \nBackground ......................................................................................................................... 13  \nData .................................................................................................................................... 14  \nMethodology ....................................................................................................................... 15  \nFindings ............................................................................................................................... 16  \nImplications ......................................................................................................................... 22  \nAppendix A: Methodology....................................................................................................23  \nAppendix B: Additional Tables ..............................................................................................24  \nEndnotes ............................................................................................................................. 28  \nForeword  \nBy David Griffith and Amber M. Northern  \nEveryone knows that standardized tests paint an incomplete picture of schools’ impacts on students. Yet, the search for alternative indicators of school quality has been a disappointment.  \nThat’s because coming up with thoughtful alternatives to tests is easier said than done. After all, any truly informative indicator of school quality must satisfy at least five criteria.  \nFirst, it must be valid. In other words, it must capture something that policymakers, parents, or “we the people” care about.  \nSecond, it must be reliable. That is, it must be reasonably accurate and consistent from one year to the next or when averaged over multiple years.  \nThird, it must be timely. For example, it makes little sense to report elementary schools’effects on college completion, since that information would be useless to parents and policymakers by the time it was available.  \nFourth, it must be fair. For exampl","cbCaip0VrDzlUs5o","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaip0VrDzlUs5o","pdf",4481310,32,"English","# Foreword\n# Introduction\n# Background\n# Data\n# Methodology\n# Findings\n# Implications\n# Appendix A: Methodology\n# Appendix B: Additional Tables\n# Endnotes","[{\"question\":\"Why does the report argue that standardized tests give an incomplete picture of schools’ impact?\",\"answer\":\"It explains that standardized tests do not capture a full view of schools’ impacts on students, motivating the search for alternative quality indicators.\"},{\"question\":\"What criteria must an alternative school-quality indicator meet?\",\"answer\":\"The report lists validity, reliability, timeliness, fairness, and trustworthiness as essential criteria for an indicator to be meaningful to policymakers and families.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the proposed GPA-based measure aim to avoid grade inflation incentives?\",\"answer\":\"Instead of holding schools accountable for their own students’ GPAs, it suggests rewarding schools for improving students’ grades at the next institution they attend, such as sixth-grade GPA outcomes for elementary schools.\"}]","Ready or Not? A New Way to Measure Elementary and Middle School Quality - Fordham Institute Report - February 2025 | PDF",1792063072,81]