Racial-Ethnic Gaps in Achievement Motivational Constructs of U.S. Eighth-Grade Students that Predict Mathematics and Science Achievement
Racial-Ethnic Gaps in Achievement Motivational Constructs of U.S. Eighth-Grade Students that Predict Mathematics and Science Achievement

Author: Emtiaz Rony Ahmed

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13:

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According to the TIMSS 2015 international study findings, students who enjoy learning mathematics a lot scored much higher (average 61 points) than the students who do not enjoy it a lot. Enjoying learning mathematics is one of the indicators of the construct "intrinsic motivation" towards mathematics, and this type of other constructs, such as confidence, attainment value, and utility value were found to have significant contributions in students' academic achievement in previous studies. This study considered the Expectancy-Value Theory (E-VT) of achievement motivation and the Social Equity Theory (SET) to investigate racial-ethnic gaps in achievement motivational constructs as well as achievement scores of U.S. eighth-grade students in the mathematics and science domains.The TIMSS 2011 U.S. national data on mathematics and science were utilized to answer four research questions. The first research question addressed the psychometric properties of the achievement motivation scales in the TIMSS 2011 Student Background Questionnaire, and the findings of this study confirmed sound evidence regarding the construct, convergent, and divergent validity of the scales. The second research question looked for the racial-ethnic gaps in achievement motivational constructs. A series of measurement invariance tests confirmed that the racial-ethnic groups (Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White students) are not comparable after controlling for students' relative standing or ability levels on the constructs. The third and fourth research questions sought to determine the extent to which the E-VT and the SET explain variance in mathematics and science achievement. This study results showed that the E-VT constructs explain more within-group variance in the mathematics domain (with moderate to large effect sizes) than the science domain (with moderate effect sizes), and the SET variables explain the almost similar amount of within-group variance in both domains (with moderate effect sizes). Regarding the between-group variance, the E-VT constructs explain more between-group variance (with moderate to large effect sizes) than the SET variables in both the mathematics and science domains.

Understanding Racial-Ethnic Differences in Secondary School Science and Mathematics Achievement
Understanding Racial-Ethnic Differences in Secondary School Science and Mathematics Achievement

Author: Susan T. Hill

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 1996-09

Total Pages: 91

ISBN-13: 078813292X

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Provides information about the family resources, school practices, and individual characteristics of black, Hispanic, and American Indian secondary school students. Compares the achievements of these minority students to white and Asian students in an effort to see where they stand and how to improve upon their learning in today's competitive world. Focuses on students in the 8th and 10th grades. Charts and graphs.

Examining Gaps in Mathematics Achievement Among Racial-Ethnic Groups, 1972-1992
Examining Gaps in Mathematics Achievement Among Racial-Ethnic Groups, 1972-1992

Author: Mark Berends

Publisher: Rand Corporation

Published: 2005-04-08

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 0833040669

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Examines trends in the mathematics scores of different racial-ethnic groups over time and analyzes how changes in family, school, and schooling measures help explain changes in the test score gaps. Although there were few positive changes between schools, the within-school experiences of black and Latino students changed for the better compared with white students when measured by student self-reported academic track placement.

Understanding Racial-ethnic Differences in Secondary School Science and Mathematics Achievement
Understanding Racial-ethnic Differences in Secondary School Science and Mathematics Achievement

Author: Samuel S. Peng

Publisher: U.S. Government Printing Office

Published: 1995-01-01

Total Pages: 80

ISBN-13: 9780160455193

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This study was designed to address two related issues: (1) Why are Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians underrepresented in science and mathematics-related fields, and (2) Why do students of these minority groups have lower achievement test scores in science and mathematics than other students? Data on a number of home, school, and student variables were collected from the 1988 eighth-grade cohort of the National Education Longitudinal Study. Major findings include: (1) At early ages, all students have equally positive attitudes toward science and mathematics learning in school and have similar aspirations for science and mathematics-related careers, but as they get older, more minority students become unprepared to enter these fields as they fall behind in mathematics and science learning; (2) a larger percentage of minority students come from families in poverty which have fewer learning materials at home such as books and computers, and their parents are more likely than others to have low educational levels and to be unemployed and are less likely to provide adequate mentoring or role models for mathematics and science learning; and (3) these minority students are more likely to attend disadvantaged schools where the overall academic and supporting environments are less conducive to learning, suffer from the lack of persistent effort and active involvement in school, and are in low-track achievement groups. Appendices include data tables; National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Databases for Studies of Science and Mathematics in Education; Specification of Variables Used in the Study; and a table of Correlation Coefficients for Contextual and Process Variables. (Contains 44 references.) (MKR)

US educational achievement on international assessments
US educational achievement on international assessments

Author: Ben Dalton

Publisher: RTI Press

Published: 2011-05-23

Total Pages: 22

ISBN-13:

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The debate about the performance of US students on international assessments of educational achievement routinely fails to account for one consistently stark result: US achievement is bifurcated between a group of high-performing Asian and white students and an exceptionally low-performing group of black and Hispanic students. By summarizing results across 20 major international tests conducted since 1995, this research paper shows that when US racial and ethnic groups are separately compared with other countries, Asian and white students regularly perform at or near the top of international rankings, while black and Hispanic students typically rank at or near the bottom. Furthermore, the United States has a substantially larger minority population than all other developed countries, and minority status is not synonymous with internationally comparable factors such as socioeconomic level or immigrant status. The fact that overall US scores are disproportionately influenced by race and ethnicity suggests that researchers and reformers must reconsider how they use and interpret the results of international achievement tests. The research paper recommends providing and analyzing cross-national data separately by ethnic groups to inform approaches to improving education for all students.

Language Characteristics and Academic Achievement
Language Characteristics and Academic Achievement

Author: Denise Bradby

Publisher: Department of Education Office of Educational

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13:

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This report examines the demographic and language characteristics and educational aspirations of Asian American and Hispanic American eighth graders and relates that information to their mathematical ability and reading comprehension as measured by an achievement test. Special attention is paid to students who come from homes in which a non-English language is spoken. The report uses information selected from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). The NELS:88 administered questionnaires and tests to a national sample of 25,000 eighth grade students in over 1,000 public and private schools in spring 1988. A second data collection was conducted in spring 1990. Of the 1,505 Asian American students evaluated, 73 percent were reported as language minorities (LMs), while 77 percent of the 3,129 Hispanic American students evaluated were LMs. Of the LM students, 66 percent of the Asian Americans had high English proficiency as compared to 64 percent of the LM Hispanic Americans. Both Asian American and Hispanic American groups had 4 percent of LM students showing low English proficiency. Overall, the study found many similarities between the two groups. However, differences are apparent when data are divided along language proficiency, mathematics achievement, aspiration, and other measures. Statistical data are provided in 33 tables and 44 graphs. Appendices present selected survey questions, technical notes and methodology, and 109 standard error tables. (JB)

The Role of the Economy in Changing the Achievement Gap Between Different Racial and Ethnic 8th Grade Students' English Language Arts Test Scores
The Role of the Economy in Changing the Achievement Gap Between Different Racial and Ethnic 8th Grade Students' English Language Arts Test Scores

Author: Dominique Limprevil-Divers

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13:

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There is a large achievement gap in literacy between Black and White students in the United States that has been found to be mostly due to both differing learning opportunities as well as to income levels. Meanwhile, much of the research on academic performance has focused on race with less attention on the income of the school neighborhood zip code as a mediating factor in test outcomes for racial/ethnic students. This research investigated trends in English Language Arts test scores compared to income in the surrounding communities among New York City schools' racial/ethnic groups of middle school students; also, whether income discrepancies predict a gap in test scores of these groups. This study looked at ELA test scores for 8th grade middle school students from 2013 through 2019, grouped by demographics such as race/ethnicity, and income status. Disability status, English language skills, and gender were also described. The method employed was a non-experimental quantitative design with the generalized estimating equations (GEE) models. Sample size includes approximately 403 New York City schools per year. Publicly available data from the New York State Education Department were used for Grade 8 English Language Arts Assessment Data for seven years. GEE was utilized to test the relationships and hypothesis. Generalized estimating equations were fit with the mean scores as the dependent variable, and test year, student race, an indicator variable to distinguish between the 2013-2017 and 2018-2019 periods and a race by test year interaction term as covariates. The findings showed that all three variables were significantly associated with the 8th grade classroom ELA test score means. A generalized estimating equation approach was also used to capture the effect of schools on ELA test scores. These analyses showed that race/ethnicity, year, income, and the indicator variable described above are significantly associated with the ELA test scores.

Harming the Best
Harming the Best

Author: Eric Alan Hanushek

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13:

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Sizeable achievement differences by race appear in early grades, but substantial uncertainty exists about the impact of school quality on the black-white achievement gap and particularly about its evolution across different parts of the achievement distribution. Texas administrative data show that the overall growth in the achievement gap between third and eighth grade is higher for students with higher initial achievement and that specific teacher and peer characteristics including teacher experience and peer racial composition explain a substantial share of the widening. The adverse effect of attending school with a high black enrollment share appears to be an important contributor to the larger growth in the achievement differential in the upper part of the test score distribution. This evidence reaffirms the major role played by peers and school quality, but also presents a policy dilemma. Teacher labor market complications, current housing patterns, legal limits in segregation efforts, and uncertainty about the overall effects of specific desegregation programs indicate that effective policy responses will almost certainly involve a set of school improvements beyond simple changes in peer racial composition and the teacher experience distribution.

Racial-Ethnic Identity and Academic Achievement
Racial-Ethnic Identity and Academic Achievement

Author: Hillary Margaret-Jean Thomas

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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The unfortunate disparity in achievement among minority and low income students is well-documented. Multiple social, structural, and psychological variables have been presented to try to explain the achievement gap. Researchers have also considered an individual's racial-ethnic identity (REI) as an important variable that contributes to achievement outcomes. Oyserman and colleagues developed a model of REI that emphasizes three key factors of ones racial-ethnic identity that have a direct impact on achievement. Further, her model posits that the interaction between two key REI variables, feelings of connectedness to one's REI group (connectedness) and the perception that one's racial-ethnic group values achievement (embedded achievement), contributes to positive achievement outcomes. Although research has suggested that REI significantly impacts achievement, the specific processes by which this occurs are less known. Considering the social-cognitive literature, it is plausible that different psychological and motivational beliefs mediate the relationship between REI and achievement-related outcomes. This dissertation study examines the mediating effect of sense of school belonging and perceived sense of school engagement on the relationship between REI (embedded achievement and connectedness) and academic achievement of minority middle school students longitudinally through the use of structural equation modeling. Results indicate that embedded achievement significantly predicts academic achievement. Furthermore, sense of belonging to school mediates this relationship for all racial and gender groups. Results also revealed that embedded achievement significantly predicted student perceived engagement for Hispanic students. Strategies to promote sense of belonging and embedded achievement at the personal, structural, community, peer, and family levels are discussed. The electronic version of this dissertation is accessible from http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/151133

STEM the Tide
STEM the Tide

Author: David E. Drew

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2011-10-01

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 1421403412

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Proven strategies for reforming STEM education in America’s schools, colleges, and universities. One study after another shows American students ranking behind their international counterparts in the STEM fields—science, technology, engineering, and math. Businesspeople and cultural critics such as Bill Gates warn that this alarming situation puts the United States at a serious disadvantage in the high-tech global marketplace of the twenty-first century, and President Obama places improvement in these areas at the center of his educational reform. What can be done to reverse this poor performance and to unleash America’s wasted talent? David E. Drew has good news—and the tools America needs to keep competitive. Drawing on both academic literature and his own rich experience, Drew identifies proven strategies for reforming America’s schools, colleges, and universities, and his comprehensive review of STEM education in the United States offers a positive blueprint for the future. These research-based strategies include creative and successful methods for building strong programs in science and mathematics education and show how the achievement gap between majority and minority students can be closed. A crucial measure, he argues, is recruiting, educating, supporting, and respecting America’s teachers. Accessible, engaging, and hard hitting, STEM the Tide is a clarion call to policymakers, administrators, educators, and everyone else concerned about students’ participation in the STEM fields and America’s competitive global position.