Education Commons^™

One Size Does Not Fit All: A Comparison Of White, Latinx, And Black Student's Unadjusted And Adjusted Gpas In A College Of Business And Public Administration Of A Hispanic Serving Institution, Francisca Beer, Daniel Macdonald

International Journal for Business Education

Because higher education creates more informed individuals, healthier citizens, social prestige, job satisfaction, and numerous other non-economic benefits, it is important that all members of society have opportunities for successful educational achievement. Using data for undergraduate students enrolled in a business college of a large Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), this study documents the existence of an unadjusted GPA gap between White students and ethnic minority students. This study also shows that the unadjusted GPA gaps decrease when socio-economic indicators are introduced in the analysis. The gaps continue to decrease when units-taken, transfer status, age, and student status are added to …

Through The Looking Glass: Assessing And Enhancing The Effectiveness Of Bourdieu’S Theory Of Practice To Understand The Achievement Gap In British Columbia's Inner-City Schools, Victor Brar

Journal of Practitioner Research

This paper emerges from a 2016 conceptual study borne out of an ongoing practitioner inquiry in which I, as a practicing K-12 inner-city Canadian teacher, tried to understand, on a theoretical level, why the children at my inner-city school in Vancouver consistently underperform in an academic sense in spite of being provided with additional learning resources. The achievement gap that exists between British Columbia’s inner-city children and their more affluent peers cannot be adequately explained by differences in finances alone, but it has sociological roots, which I explored in this study. To understand the achievement gap, I chose to filter …

Effective Approaches In Reducing Reading Discrepancy Scores Between Students In General Education And Special Education, Jeannine M. Butler Ed.D., Karee O. Nasser Ed.D.

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

This research study examined curricular and instructional approaches that help students who receive special education services meet common Illinois state standards as measured by annual state standardized testing. Despite having supportive accommodations and modifications, Illinois students who receive special education services have lagged behind their general education peers in meeting academic standards as measured by annual Illinois state testing. Participants included personnel from schools that were identified as being high performing while also having the smallest discrepancy between students in general education and special education. These schools were investigated to determine what approaches they use to have this reduced achievement …

A Geographic Account Of Economic, Health, And Educational Disparities In Hartford’S Sheff Region, Casey D. Cobb

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

In the current study, I use geographic techniques to examine the distribution of key housing, economic, health, and educational indicators in metropolitan Hartford. I focus in particular on factors that bear upon the lives of children in this area, also known as the Sheff region—a reference to the long-standing Sheff v. O’Neill school desegregation lawsuit. The results reveal substantial disparities in the geographic distribution of important resources and outcomes across the racially and economically stratified region. Despite earnest school desegregation efforts, the opportunities, access, and resources available to children in municipalities across the metro Hartford region remain starkly different. Children …

An Econometric Analysis Of Student Achievement In Minnesota, Aexander Garver

Augsburg Honors Review

America's public schools are the foundation of the future of American society. Everyone wants America to have good schools so that students are well-educated. So it follows that educational policy must be formulated to meet this goal. However, currently there are many disparities between schools that keep students from being educated equally. One of the causes of these disparities is inequity in school resources between individual schools. One study agrees, saying that disparities in spending have consequences in the subject areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and citizenship. In Minnesota, disparities in educational resources have led to a large achievernent …

The Development Of The Wise (Writing To Inspire Successful Education) Writing Mentoring Program: A University-School Collaboration, Bradley H. Smith, Michael S. Mathews, Serrae N. Reed, Michelle Q. N. Tran, Caroline Mousa, Mauricio Lozano, Erica S. Rodriguez, Andrew Hamilton, Jonathan T. Mathews

MLET: The Journal of Middle Level Education in Texas

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a service learning writing mentoring program designed to close the achievement gap in writing proficiency for economically disadvantaged seventh grade students. Compared to writing mentoring studies found in the published literature, this program has three distinguishing components. First, it focused on economically disadvantaged middle school students. Second, it provided writing mentoring through a university-school partnership in which college students provided the intervention in collaboration with a seventh-grade teacher. Third, the program used technology to facilitate the mentoring process. Over the course of an academic year, mentors created videos with feedback on 19 writing …

No Shortcuts On The Journey To Learning For Students Or Teachers, Alison Coviello, Susan Stires

Occasional Paper Series

Despite the generally held view that children in low-performing, under-served schools have "deficits" teachers in such schools often have very different experiences. Students can succeed in all areas of schooling and beyond. But for this to happen, teacher education institutions need to provide teacher candidates with background information and knowledge about instruction, so they can see and support the strengths of students in high-needs schools.

Closing The Gap Or Reaching The Ceiling: An Exploratory Trend Analysis Of The Black White Achievement Gap In Texas, Jemimah Lea Young, Jamaal R. Young

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

The academic achievement gap is an intriguing issue in educational research across the nation, as well as one of the most serious problems facing the United States. Texas has shown tremendous success in narrowing the difference between the percentage of White students and students of color that pass the TAAS and TAKS over two consecutive decades. This study investigated identified evidence a “ceiling effect” may mediate the results of two decades of assessments in the state of Texas. The results suggest that the growth patterns for African American students pass rates were consistently larger than White student growth trajectories, but …

The Relationship Of A Systemic Student Support Intervention To Academic Achievement In Urban Catholic Schools, Katherine A. Shields, Mary E. Walsh, Terrence J. Lee-St. John

Journal of Catholic Education

Much of the achievement gap between rich and poor students can be attributed to out-of-school factors, yet few schools have a comprehensive, coordinated system for addressing students’ nonacademic needs. Within a group of Catholic schools located in one city, this study examines academic achievement on the Stanford Achievement Test battery in mathematics, reading, and language among 2^nd through 8^th grade students participating in such an intervention, and compares the results with those of similar nonparticipating students in nearby cities. Using hierarchical longitudinal growth modeling and adjusting for demographic characteristics, this study found that students in intervention schools outperformed …

“If You Cannot Live By Our Rules, If You Cannot Adapt To This Place, I Can Show You The Back Door.” A Response To "New Forms Of Teacher Education: Connections To Charter Schools And Their Approaches", Barrett A. Smith

Democracy and Education

Stitzlein and West (2014) are primarily concerned with how Relay and Match risk failing to prepare their residents to practice democratic education. My aim is to provide a more thorough account of specific practices employed by Match and their no-excuses approach in order to illustrate and support points made by Stitzlein and West. It is my hope that this deeper examination will substantiate the concerns of Stitzlein and West while further problematizing the practices employed by and advocated for throughout Match.

Is The Black Male College Graduate Becoming An Endangered Species? A Multi-Case Analysis Of The Attrition Of Black Males In Higher Education, Michael Washington

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

The purpose of this study was to examine how some black college students survived the phenomenon of low graduation rates, also known as attrition, occurring among black male students attending colleges in the state of California. Current research indicated that this phenomenon is a nationwide issue. The gap between black male college students and none-minority college students is significant and an indication of either discriminatory practices or inefficiencies within the system. This multiple case study involved a series of semi-structured interviews and field observation over a three month time-frame. The data was coded and triangulated. The findings pointed to several …

Exploring The Role Of Social Reasoning And Self-Efficacy In The Mathematics Problem-Solving Performance Of Lower- And Higher-Income Children, Allison G. Butler

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Research documents an income-based achievement gap in mathematics, yet children from lower-income backgrounds do not lag behind their more advantaged peers in high-level social reasoning tasks. The purpose here was to investigate whether modifying mathematics word problems to make them more socially based would impact the mathematics performance and/or mathematics self-efficacy of lower- versus higher-income children. Research questions regarding (1) the relative difficulty of symbolic equations versus word problems, (2) the impact of socially modifying word problems on children’s accuracy and self-efficacy, and (3) the relation between children’s mathematics performance and mathematics self-efficacy were explored. Participants were 164 5th graders. …

Fall 2013

Action in Education

New building welcomes students and alumni back to campus this fall; Welcome to the "new" College of Education; Facing History Summer Institute raises awareness of immigration issues; New programs meet the growing needs of the community; Celebrating Teachers Initiative commemorates exceptional educators; COE alumna works to close the achievement gap; Accolades; Many Dreams, One Mission Campaign for DePaul University

Sharing Responsibility For The Learning Of Students: A Case Study, Pamela Scott

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The educational gap in student achievement is steadily broadening among the various disaggregated groups throughout our nation’s public schools. School administrators, teachers, politicians, and other stakeholders are scampering about trying to find a solution to this ever-growing problem. Unfortunately, they are looking for the answer in all the wrong places. In fact, the answer to this crisis in America’s public school system lies in a series of questions. School administrators and teachers need only to address the following in order to effectively provide students with a quality education: What do race and ethnicity have to do with students’ ability to …

The Educational Pipeline To Law School—Too Broken And Too Narrow To Provide Diversity, Sarah E. Redfield

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “The legal profession remains markedly out of sync with the changing demographics of the country, where the population is projected to be over 50 percent minority by 2050. Against this trend, law school enrollment hovers around 20 percent minority, including over 7 percent Asian students. Enrollment of some minority groups shows a decline rather than improvement. These numbers will remain static or continue to decline if the profession does not pay far more serious attention to the current leaks and gaps along the educational pipeline, far before students seek admission at the law school gates.”

Bridging The Mathematics Achievement Gap In Struggling Urban Schools, Marcia Heiman

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

As a result of school reform efforts, many school districts report that gains have been made in students’ math scores in the elementary years. But America’s high-poverty middle and high schools remain in crisis. Beyond the elementary years, students in the nation’s high-poverty schools are failing. For example, despite years of school reform, math achievement in Detroit has declined in the last five years. For example, 25% of Detroit’s high school students scored proficiently on statewide math tests in 2004 – as compared with only 16% in the most recent reports. ( www.schoolmatters.com). At the end of high school, Hispanic …

Predicting Adequate Yearly Progress: Leaving Explanation Behind, Jenifer Moore

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The purpose of this research was to determine if the variables included in the Mississippi Report Card utilized for the calculation of AYP can be used to predict whether or not Mississippi LEAs will attain adequate yearly progress in reading and math using the logistic regression technique. This study demonstrated that using the variables utilized for the calculation of AYP, a predictive model can be successfully utilized to classify Mississippi LEAs that will and will not attain AYP in reading and math with an accuracy greater than that which can be attributed to chance.

Organizational Health At The Managerial And Institutional Levels Of Leadership: Links To Student Achievement In Middle Grades, Howard Coleman, Kathleen Roney

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

In this paper we look at the relationship between the middle school’s organizational health and student achievement as measured by math scores over a two-year period. Our research hypothesis anticipated that increases in organizational health would be related to increases in student scores on standardized tests.

Student Identification Across School Levels, Roxanne Mitchell

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Failure to identify with school has been suggested as one explanation for why some students persistently fail to meet academic expectations. Identification with school has been conceptualized as involving a sense of belonging and a valuing of school and school related outcomes (Voelkl 1997). Students who fail to identify with school often experience a host of problems ranging from behavioral problems, social and emotional withdrawal, and academic failure. These students are also at-risk for delinquency and dropping out of school (Finn 1989, Finn & Voelkl 1993, Voelkl 1997). Empirical research thus far has attempted to explain this failure to identify …

Principals’ Strategies For Successfully Closing The Achievement Gaps In Their Schools, Hersh Waxman, Lee Yuan-Hsuan, Angus Macneil

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

One of our greatest educational challenges is reducing the achievement gap between successful and less-successful students. The achievement gap is usually discussed in terms of dramatic differences in graduation rates and the academic achievement between white and minority students such as Hispanics (Waxman, Padrón, and Garcia, 2007). Research in this area typically looks at school districts and/or schools that do better than others in reducing the gaps between groups of students. There are fewer research studies, however, that focus on achievement gaps within schools and classrooms. These “within” school educational disparities often are greater than the differences between schools or …

The Effects Of Early Intervention And Parent Training On Vocabulary Development For The At-Risk Preschool Child, Sallie Averitt Miller, Sally Sinclair, Catherine Kostolnick

Perspectives In Learning

This interdisciplinary team research documents that when specific skills are taught systematically at home and at school, the low-high SES achievement gap shrinks. It provides a “close-up look” at the effects of early intervention and parent training on vocabulary development for the child, which resulted in an intergenerational achievement. The quintessential research goal is to make certain that parents are well equipped to develop their child’s vocabulary; using conversation, literature, environmental print, and a focus on selected proven strategies; that is, concept development, daily and repeated readings, and vocabulary games and activities.

Building A Framework For Change, Janet Lafortune, Carol Ann Wood

Perspectives In Learning

Change is never easy. Sustained change in education is particularly difficult. To get the desired results, all of the stakeholders must have a shared vision for learning. It is a process not a destination. Brewer Elementary School has been in the process of change in the past several years. Brewer is in the heart of Columbus, Georgia. The school opened in 1991. The building itself is a welcome focal point in a community of apartments, low rent housing, trailer parks and businesses. It is a safe, clean, happy place for children to learn. The school currently has approximately 520 students …