Middle school grading practices and the ability to predict achievement on the Arkansas Benchmark Test

After the No Child Left Behind Act was legislated, it became necessary for states to target specific learning goals and then test those objectives. As part of this process, districts began to develop new curricula and evaluate grading practices. For this study, student samples were drawn from sixth, seventh, and eighth grade populations of a Northwest Arkansas Middle School. Samples were disaggregated by grade level for the 2005-2006, 2006-2007, and 2007-2008 school years. A quasi-experimental design was implemented to test the strength of the independent variable, averaged semester grades, on the dependent variable, Arkansas Benchmark Test scores. A Pearson r correlation was the primary measurement tool and the coefficient was calculated for each grade level for each of the three years. The results showed no statistically significant link between the averaged semester grades of the Northwest Arkansas Middle School and the Arkansas Benchmark scores