STUDY OF DIFFERENCE OF MATH SCORES

A Comparative Study of Math Scores between High School Hispanic Students and other Student Ethnicities



Acknowledgement

I would like to express my thanks to my advisor, for his comments, suggestions, patience and understanding. Very special thanks to my parents, my sister and my brother who were continuously supporting me throughout my life and leaving me free in all my decisions. I would also like to thank my colleagues for his technical support whenever I needed. I would like to thank to the Department, all the university teachers, managers and students with whom I have worked.

I certify that the work presented in the dissertation is my own unless referenced

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DECLARATION

I [type your full first name and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to explore the lag in Hispanic student achievement in Math Scores, as compared to different ethnicities' students' achievement in New York. The focus of the study are Hispanics because 1) the Hispanic population is growing exponentially arid 2) Hispanics are scoring significantly lower on achievement tests than other ethnic groups. The study is a quantitative analysis of the relationship between student characteristics and achievement among 2007-2008 tenth-grade students' state assessment AIMS Math and Reading scale scores from Clarksville School District. Hispanics are the focus of the study and Whites are used as the group for comparison because Whites comprised the majority of the 2007-2008 tenth-grade AIMS population. The researcher will conduct an extensive review of the literature regarding the influence of student characteristics related to their achievement. Ethnicity, gender and English proficiency are identified as the most salient features associated with overall student achievement.

Descriptive statistics confirmed the effect of ethnicity, gender, and English proficiency on student achievement demonstrated in the empirical literature. The method of analysis includes frequency distributions to show intervals of data, as well as data analysis of student achievement scores according to the NCLB model as a point of comparison. There is a linear regression analysis of the student characteristic variables as well as special education and individual high school variables to predict scale scores for tenth-grade students in Clarksville School District. In addition, interaction terms are reported where the introduction of such terms are both statistically significant and improved the fit of the model.

The most significant finding showed that the addition of the English proficiency variable had the largest negative effect on student achievement as measured by AIMS Math and Reading. Specifically, English learners (EL) scored significantly lower than English proficient (EP) students. The findings challenge school leaders to focus on English proficiency to increase Hispanic student achievement.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement2

DECLARATION3

Abstract4

Chapter 1: Introduction7

Background of the Problem7

Other Students Achievement Gap8

Problem Statement9

Research Aims and Objectives10

Significance of the Problem10

Significance of the Study10

Hypothesis/Research Question11

Assumptions11

Scope and Limitations12

Ethical Considerations13

Chapter 2: Literature Review15

Relationships between ...