| Abstract: | School effectiveness indices (SEIs) based on residuals from regressing test performance onto prior test performance and a socioeconomic status (SES) measure were obtained for 2 consecutive years for 431 elementary schools. The resulting SEIs were found to be reasonably stable year to year, the correlations ranging from. 34 to .66, depending on grade level (1–4) and subject (reading and mathematics). To aid in the identification of the factors that affect the stability of school achievement, correlations of the SEIs across subjects and grade levels were obtained also. It was determined that SEIs reflecting the performance of students at the same grade level were relatively stable, whether the same or different students were involved. However, SEIs reflecting the performance of students at different grade levels were very unstable. This suggests that grade-within-school effects dominate whatever global school effects operate in elementary schools. Implications for effective schools research, the design of school recognition/reward programs, and research and measurement specialists in general are discussed |
