Math state assessments scores for 8th grade

Math state assessments scores for 8th grade

Statement of the Problem

The problem is low Math state assessments scores for 8th grade. African American sub pop is the lowest.

Background and Context for the Problem

In the last four years data has shown that African American scored lowest than in other sub pop. In the past it was questioned that African American lower income was the reason.

Research Questions/Hypotheses

Year 1 60% African American failed. Year two 57% failed. Year three 53% failed. Year four 40% failed.

We have been during in school tutorials, after school tutorial, and Saturday camps to improved the scores.

Importance or Significance of the Study

We need to lower the failure rate in Math. There are too many African American failing the state test. It's important that the students pass to9th grade, the school reach Annual year growth, teachers to keep their jobs.

Literature Review

Within the domain of academic achievement motivation, several motivational theories—self efficacy (Bandura, 1986; Pajares, 1996); attribution theory (Weiner, 1985); and expectancyvalue theory (Atkinson, 1964; Eccles, 1993)—exist that focus on facilitators of motivation (Gilman & Anderman, 2006). Of these facilitators, Bandura (1989b) claims that the mechanism of self-efficacy is the most influential, especially for people who want to stimulate change in self and situations on their own. Due to the concentration on self, the theoretical framework chosen for this study is Bandura?s (1986) social cognitive theory, which asserts the following: …people are neither driven by inner forces nor automatically shaped and controlled by external stimuli. Rather, human functioning is explained in terms of a model of triadic reciprocality in which behavior, cognitive and other personal factors, and environmental events all operate as interacting determinants of each other (p. 18). Social cognitive theory outlines four sources of information on self-efficacy: enactive attainments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological state (Bandura, 1986, 1997). Enactive attainments refer to the effects of experiences on efficacy; accordingly, prior success can elevate efficacy while prior failure can lower efficacy. However, individuals must balance several factors—ability, non-ability, achievement success/failure, effort, task difficulty—before judging their self-efficacy. Another attribute that has an impact on one?s self efficacy is the manner in which the individuals monitor their own performances. If one selectively chooses, for example, to focus on good performances, then there exists the potential to increase perceptions of their self-efficacy and vice versa.

Vicarious experience, which may have profound influence(s) on an individual?s performance, occurs when an individual believes in their ability to achieve certain results after observing other people, similar to them, who have engaged in the same activity and have acquired success (Bandura, 1986, 1997). Schunk, Pintrich, and Meece (2008) state, “Observing the successes, failures, rewards, and punishments of others creates expectations in observers that they are likely to experience similar outcomes for performing the same behaviors” (p. 157). Bandura (1997) has argued that social comparisons are a fundamental feature of vicarious experience and greatly affect the choice and proficiency of models. From these models, strategies, such as coping, are learned that help ...