responses required

1. Do you think performance on the SGA is the direct cause of performance on the SOL?

No. I think performance on the SGA test correlates with performance on the SOL, which means that performance on the SGA could predict performance on the SOL.

2. Do you think SOL performance is causing a change in SGA performance?

No. Just because performance on these two tests is related does not mean there is a causal connection.

3. Do you think performance on the SGA is contributing but not the sole cause of performance on the SOL?

I do not see how performance on one exam contributes to performance on another. The tests are taken at different times during the school year so students could have gained knowledge (or forgot things they learned) in the time between the tests. The students could be in a different frame of mind or state of health on the two different testing days. It seems there are far too many variables influencing each test to try to hypothesize any direct relationship with any confidence at all.

4. What confounding variables could be responsible for the observed relationship between SGA and SOL?

A language barrier, learning disability, health and well being.

5. Could performance on both SGA and SOLs result from a common cause?

Absolutely. Factors like motivation, intelligence and ability to perform well on tests could all be such common causes.

6. Since both SGA and SOL performances change over time, what does that say about their relationship?

If performance on both tests is consistently the same (both increasing or both decreasing), then you could use the performance on one test to predict performance on the other.

7. Could the association between SGA and SOL be nothing more than coincidence?

It is possible but not likely. The correlations with the two tests are averaging 0.75 and higher, which makes them statistically significant since correlations above 0.70 are considered very high.