The black/white achievement gap: What makes a difference?

Myra G Anderson, Purdue University

Abstract

Students in this country can receive a free public education through high school, but the quality of the schools and the external factors which impact them have created an unequal path to knowledge. Blacks have traditionally scored lower than whites on achievement tests, and there have been efforts made to identify factors that affect the gap in scoring. This two-phased study utilized race-disaggregated data from the Indiana Department of Education website first to examine the gaps in achievement between blacks and whites on the Grade 3 Indiana Statewide Test of Educational Progress Plus (ISTEP+) examination. This test is administered annually to all students in grades 3 through 10 in the fall of the year. Fifty-nine elementary schools were identified, based on achievement data from testing years 2002-2005, as schools with wider-than-average black/white performance gaps or narrower-than average gaps. T-tests were done to establish the significance of these gaps. In the first phase of this study the gaps in achievement were examined using regression analysis to determine the effects of six variables related to student achievement. Poverty, ethnicity, mobility, attendance, school size, and suspensions, were used as explanatory variables with the gaps in achievement used as response variables. The only variables that were found to be significant were poverty, attendance, and suspensions. The relationship of these variables to the gap was not what was expected. Poverty generally had a negative relationship with the gap indicating that the wider the gap the less poverty was found. Attendance also had an unexpected positive relationship with the gap with wider gap schools having the higher attendance rates. There were some isolated exceptions to these outcomes with some of the response variables. The second phase of the study focused on principal interview data used to identify commonalities among the narrower-than-average schools in four areas. School climate, curriculum, pedagogy, and leadership were examined as they impact student achievement. The purpose of this part of the study was to look for factors that might explain the improved performance by black students in these schools relative to white students. Eight principals from schools in Indiana provided responses relative to discipline practices, parental/community involvement, reading frameworks, innovative programs, use of data, success celebrations, and leadership challenges. The information generated from the interviews was examined in light of what has been determined previously about schools where black students have performed well.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Hirth, Purdue University.

Subject Area

African Americans|School administration|Elementary education

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