The effect of a three-week TAAS Blitz on overall student performance on the exit level of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills Test

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a three-week TAAS tutorial program (TAAS Blitz) on the academic performance of a selected population of students in one urban southeast Texas school district on the exit level of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills Test (TAAS). The ex post facto research design was used to compare the performance of students on the exit level of the TAAS test after participation in a three-week TAAS tutorial program called a TAAS Blitz. The following measures were used to compare the performance of students who participated in a three-week TAAS Blitz program and students who did not participate in a three-week TAAS Blitz program: (1) performance scores on the exit level TAAS test, (2) program status, (3) gender, (4) ethnicity, (5) exit level reading achievement, (6) exit level mathematics achievement, and (7) exit level writing achievement.; The population was limited to (1) students who were ninth and tenth graders during the 1998--1999 and 1999--2000 school year, (2) students who took the 1998 TAAS Release Test and students who took the exit level of the TAAS test during the 1998--1999 and 1999--2000 school year, (3) students enrolled in an urban southeast Texas school district during the 1998--1999 and 1999--2000 school year, (4) students who had all the necessary data required for this study, and (5) students who participated in the TAAS Blitz program. The study was conducted over a period of three weeks.; Based on the findings of this study, the following suggestions were offered for consideration by educators in the field of curriculum and instruction. (1) Educators, especially those responsible for enhancing the academic performance of students on standardized achievement tests should be cognizant of the influence that pull out programs such as tutorial programs have on the test performance-of-students. (2) Educators, particularly those who teach at-risk and/or minority students, should be aware of the influence that various factors have on these students' performance on standardized achievement tests. (3) Finally, educators in the public school arena should become aware of the role that standardized tests play in the assessment of students. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...