Questions of equity: Kentucky authentic assessment reading and mathematics results compared by sex and location

This study investigated potential sex and location differences in the reading and mathematics performance of Kentucky school children at three grade levels. The study focused on results of the newly implemented authentic, performance-based assessment, Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS) that was designed to measure outcomes of the systemic 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). This reform legislation resulted from a law suit brought by a group of school districts and citizens who won a Kentucky Supreme Court decision by arguing that funding inequities between rural and urban Kentucky school districts caused inequities in students' achievement. The framework for this investigation was extended to include sex because of differences in male-female test scores found on standardized, norm referenced achievement tests used in Kentucky and across the nation.;Results of this study indicated no significant differences between the performance of urban and rural students in the fourth and eighth grades in reading and mathematics. Significant differences existed at the eleventh grade level with urban students having higher scores than rural students. Reading scores decrease for all students as they progress through the grade levels, while mathematics scores increase. There were no significant differences in mathematics scores of female and male students; however, girls outperformed boys at all grade levels.;The results of this study suggest a need to explore further why females outscore males on KIRIS reading, how standardized and authentic assessment hems can be combined to produce an unbiased test, and why reading scores decline as grade level increases while mathematics scores increase as grade level increases. In light of the findings of no significant differences in mathematics scores of female and male students, further research needs to be conducted to determine if this form of authentic assessment is the unbiased instrument long sought by researchers.