A LONGITUDINAL STUDY TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF THE IN-MIGRATION AND OUT-MIGRATION OF STUDENTS ON STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES IN A SUBURBAN COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM

Statement of the Problem. The problem of this study was to determine through longitudinal analysis whether standardized test scores at the third and fifth grade levels were affected by students transferring in and out of a suburban county school system. Specifically, the research was designed to analyze the test scores of students on the Nonverbal Battery of the Cognitive Abilities Tests and the Reading Comprehension test of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. Study Population. The total population of 2,117 students was drawn from the Frederick County School System in Maryland and consisted of all third grade students tested in 1978 and all fifth grade students tested in 1980. The population was divided into a longitudinal group of 1,376 students and two nonlongitudinal groups: an out-migration group which consisted of 310 students and an in-migration group which consisted of 431 students. Procedure. The scores of the longitudinal group were compared at the third and fifth grade levels to determine whether significant differences existed. Second, the scores of the nonlongitudinal groups and the longitudinal group at the third and fifth grade levels were compared. Additionally, the scores of the out-migration group were compared to the scores of the in-migration group. Finally, the total county scores at the third and fifth grade levels were analyzed with respect to the longitudinal group to determine whether the out-migration group of the in-migration group significantly affected them. Descriptive and statistical analyses were utilized to compare the scores of the various groups. T tests were conducted for all comparisons of the longitudinal and nonlongitudinal groups. Results. The analyses of the data yielded the following results. (1) The mean scores on the Cognitive Abilities Tests and the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills of the longitudinal group at the third grade level were significantly different from those of the longitudinal group at the fifth grade level. (2) The mean scores on the Cognitive Abilities Tests and the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills of the longitudinal group at the third grade level were significantly different from those of the out-migration group at the third grade level. (3) The mean scores on the Cognitive Abilities Tests and the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills of the longitudinal group at the fifth grade level were significantly different from those of the in-migration group at the fifth grade level. (4) The mean scores on the Cognitive Abilities Tests and the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills of the out-migration group at the third grade level were significantly different from those of the in-migration group at the fifth grade level. (5) The scores of the out-migration group at the third grade level had a significant effect on the county mean scores on the Cognitive Abilities Tests and the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. (6) The scores of the in-migration group at the fifth grade level did not have a significant effect on the county mean scores on the Cognitive Abilities Tests and the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. Conclusions. (1) The longitudinal group scores moderately improved from the third grade level to the fifth grade level on both tests. (2) The longitudinal group scored higher than the nonlongitudinal groups. (3) The in-migration group performed at a higher level on both tests than the out-migration group. (4) The scores of the out-migration group significantly affected the total county scores on both tests. (5) The scores of the in-migration group did not significantly affect the total county scores on either test.