Correlational study of the relationship between the Iowa Test of Basic Skills eighth -grade reading scores and the Georgia High School Graduation Test English language arts scores

The purpose of this study was to analyze the Iowa Test of Basic Skills eighth grade reading scores and the Georgia High School Graduation English language arts scores for the Adairsville High School classes of 1997, 1998, and 1999 to determine if there was a correlation between the two scores, which would result in the utilization of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills as a predictor of the Georgia High School Graduation Test. The Georgia High School Graduation Test was administered in the spring of the students' junior year. The population included in this study included all students who had both Iowa Test of Basic Skills eighth grade reading scores and Georgia High School Graduation Test English language arts scores available. Only the students who passed the graduation test on the first attempt were included. The final population analysis included a total of 177 students of both genders and of Caucasian and Black race.;The correlation was analyzed using the Pearson product moment. The findings established that there was a correlation between Iowa Test of Basic Skills eighth grade reading scores and the Georgia High School Graduation Test English language arts scores for the classes of 1997, 1998, and 1999 for all students, for males and females, and for Caucasians and Blacks.;Based on the findings, a student with below average scores on the reading subtest of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills is clearly at risk of failing the English language arts subtest of the Georgia High School Graduation Test. These students need to be monitored closely in the first two years of their high school career.