EZINE> Exploring the Achievement Gap Between White and Minority Students in Texas
- From: Gleason Sackmann <gleason@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: NetHappenings <nethappenings@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 11:19:44 -0600
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Net Happenings - From Educational CyberPlayGround
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The Education Policy Analysis Archives is a peer-reviewed
scholarly journal freely accessible on the internet at
http://epaa.asu.edu.
EPAA has just published Volume 11 Number 10 "Exploring the Achievement
Gap Between White and Minority Students in Texas: A Comparison of the
1996 and 2000 NAEP and TAAS Eighth Grade Mathematics Test Results " by
Thomas H. Linton and Donald Kester.
The article can be accessed directly at
http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v11n10/
An abstract follows:
Exploring the Achievement Gap Between White
and Minority Students in Texas:
A Comparison of the 1996 and 2000 NAEP and TAAS
Eighth Grade Mathematics Test Results
Thomas H. Linton
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Donald Kester
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Abstract
The Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) has been used
to document and track an achievement gap between white and
minority students in Texas. Some educators have credited the
TAAS with fueling a drive to close the achievement gap while
others suggest that TAAS scores may be misleading because of
factors such as score inflation and a possible ceiling effect.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the gap in mathematics
achievement for eighth grade students. The study compared TAAS
and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test
results to determine if the achievement gap between white,
Hispanic, and African-American Students had narrowed between 1996
and 2000. Results indicate that TAAS mean scores increased
significantly for all three ethnic groups between 1996 and 2000.
Comparison of the TAAS test score frequency distributions for
each ethnic group indicated that white students' scores shifted
from the middle to the upper portion of the test score range
while minority students' scores shifted from the lower to the
middle and higher score range. Both white and minority students'
TAAS test score distributions were significantly more negatively
skewed in 2000 than in 1996. Comparisons between white and
minority students' TAAS scores showed that white students had
significantly higher scores than either Hispanic or
African-American students in both 1996 and 2000. Comparison of
mean score differences in 1996 and 2000 indicated that the
achievement gap between white and minority students had
narrowed. NAEP scores increased significantly from 1996 to 2000 for
Hispanic students, but not for white or African-American
students. However, test score distribution patterns showed small
positive changes for all three ethnic groups. Comparisons
between ethnic groups indicated that there were significant
differences between white and minority students' scores in both
1996 and 2000. Comparison of mean score differences in 1996 and
2000 indicated that the achievement gap between Hispanic white
students had narrowed slightly but that there was no change in
the achievement gap between white and African-American students.
Analysis of the TAAS test score distribution patterns indicated
the likelihood that a ceiling effect had impacted students'
scores. The evidence for a ceiling effect was strongest for
white students. In 2000, 60.4% of white students had a TAAS
score that fell in the top 10% of the score range. In contrast,
there was no evidence of a ceiling effect for the NAEP. Mean
score gains on the TAAS are only partially substantiated by the
NAEP data. Furthermore, there is a very strong possibility that
a ceiling effect artificially restricted the 2000 TAAS scores for
white students and created the illusion that the achievement gap
between minority and white students had been narrowed.
Citation: Linton, T. H. & Kester, D. (2003, March 14).
Exploring the achievement gap between white and minority students
in Texas: A comparison of the 1996 and 2000 NAEP and TAAS eighth
grade mathematics test results, Education Policy Analysis
Archives, 11(10). Retrieved [date] from
http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v11n10/.
_______________________________
Gene V Glass, Editor
Education Policy Analysis Archives
glass@xxxxxxx
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