Closing the Mathematics Achievement Gap in High-Poverty Middle Schools: Enablers and Constraints

Abstract

National and international comparisons have found that the mathematics achievement levels of US students fall far behind those of other developed nations, and that within the US itself, the students who are falling behind come predominantly from high poverty and high minority areas. This paper reports on a series of analyses that followed 4 cohorts of students from 3 such schools through the middle grades, 4 th to 8 th grade, where studies have found the mathematics achievement gap to develop most rapidly. The cohorts followed in these analyses attended schools that were implementing whole-school reform models, that implemented research based and proven curriculums, subject specific teacher training and professional development, multiple layers of teacher and classroom support, as well as school climate reforms. The research found that students at these schools implementing the whole-school reform models made greater progress in closing the mathematics achievement gap than at the other 23 high poverty high minority schools in their district. The paper also finds that in all the schools, while a significant proportion of students were successfully closing the achievement gap, the majority of students were still falling further behind. Using the results from a Binary Logistic Regression model, the paper then shows which factors were key in enabling or constraining a students' ability to close the achievement gap during their middle school years. The paper concludes that various student, classroom, and school level factors are all key in helping students to close the gap and that whole-school reform models, while often time and cost intensive, address issues at all of these levels and may be more able to effect the achievement gap than other more simply implemented reforms that many school districts favor. It also concludes that while few detailed analytical studies that follow entire cohorts of students through their middle school years exist, more are needed for better understanding the factors that effect students' performance in the middle grades and what changes are needed for further improvement.

Educating Urban African American Children Placed At Risk: A Comparison of Two Types of Catholic Middle Schools

“…to examining gains in standardized test performance is consistent with that of other research (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2006) and provides a mechanism for controlling for the particular nationally normed test used. Similarly, two additional variables indicating whether the student was performing at or above grade level (coded 1) or below grade level (coded 0) for the time of year when the test was administered were used.…”

The achievement effects of tardy classmates: evidence in urban elementary schools

“…In identifying significant classroom contextual factors for urban elementary youth, the results of this study can be used to develop policy and support interventions early in schooling. The focus on early school years is crucial for policy makers, as prior research has suggested that for urban students, missing school (i.e., full day absences) in early years of schooling has been found to be related to both diminished current and future educational outcomes, including lower testing performance, increased probability of grade retention, higher high school dropout rates, fewer employment opportunities, and greater chance of engaging in illegal activities (Alexander et al, 1997;Balfanz & Byrnes, 2006;Broadhurst et al, 2005;Gottfried, 2009Gottfried, , 2010Kane, 2006;Neild & Balfanz, 2006). Hence, documenting the effects of missing school for elementary school students will enable the early remediation of young urban students at risk for educational failure, before they enter into secondary education where the ramifications of missing school become increasingly harmful to the probability of both schooling and economic success.…”

“…The dependent variables are the normal curve equivalent scores (NCE) for the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT9). The NCEs are the generally preferred measurement for methodological reasons -they have statistical properties that allow for evaluating achievement over time (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2006). Normal curve equivalents range in value from 1 to 99.…”

The Effects of a Modified Direct Instruction Flashcard System on a 14 Year-Old-Student with Learning Behavioral Issues Enrolled in a Behavior Intervention Classroom

“…However, research has shown that students who know basic math facts can solve complicated math problems and are also more able to understand higher mathematical concepts (Stein, Kinder, Silbert, & Carnine, 2006). Finally, if a student does not have adequate math skills, this deficit has been linked to dropping out of school (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2006;Balfanz, Herzog, & MacIver, 2007;Lloyd, 1978) and later employment issues (Murnane, 2007;Murnane, Willett, Duhaldeborde, & Tyler, 2000;Murnane, Willett, & Levy, 1995).…”