Influence of Istation Formative Assessment on Reading Student Achievement

Many elementary teachers use formative assessment strategies as common practice, yet little information is available regarding specific programs and their influence on student achievement. Accordingly, the problem of this quantitative study was that the influence of the Istation computer-based reading program on student achievement as measured by the English Language Arts Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (ELA PARCC) summative assessment is unknown. The purpose was to investigate the influence of the Istation program on achievement and the use of specific digital learning tools for assessment. Sadler\u27s framework outlined the formative assessment cycle, designed to improve achievement, and guided the research questions of how performance on Istation influenced summative assessment. The 6 research questions for the study investigated the differences in Istation\u27s Indicators of Progress (ISIP) scores over time and the relationship between the Istation formative and ELA PARCC summative assessments. Ex-post facto analyses included a one-way repeated measures mixed analysis of variance and a linear regression analysis from a data sample from 175 Grade 3-5 students who each had a complete data set of 3 formative assessment ISIP scores from Istation and 1 summative PARCC score. Key results indicated ISIP scores improved over time and Istation can be used to predict student achievement on the ELA PARCC. Findings reinforced the potential of the program to offer student feedback and teacher data to guide instruction. Such a program can positively impact social change by improving essential student ELA skills and performance on the standardized state test that will translate to greater success in the future