Download or read book An Investigation of Student Mobility and Academic Achievement Among North Carolina Middle School Students Enrolled in Cumberland County Schools written by Susan Lloyd Byerly and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The major purpose of this study was to determine if there is a difference between student mobility and academic achievement as measured by the North Carolina End-of-Grades (EOG) Tests in Reading and Mathematics among North Carolina middle-school students in Cumberland County schools. A secondary purpose of this study is to examine the difference between reading and mathematics EOG test scores of mobile and non-mobile middle school students by gender and race. This study focuses on the issue of student mobility and its impact on academic achievement as measured by the North Carolina End-of-Grade Test in reading and mathematics. The population of the study was comprised of a cohort of 476 middle school students over a four-year period in the Cumberland County School System. Students were identified as mobile if they had changes other than promotional moves, for example elementary to middle school. Non-mobile were identified as those students who made only promotional moves. All students in the study were from single family homes and were also identified as socio-economically disadvantaged at the beginning of the study. The study explored a non-experimental two group comparison design using existing data. Seemingly, this study, in spite of its limitations, has added to the body of existing literature providing interesting insight to the effects of multiple moves on end of grade test results. Middle school students who were classified as mobile exhibited a significantly lower performance on the EOG tests for reading and math. Mobility, beyond the transition from elementary school to middle school, appears to have a negative effect on performance on high stakes accountability testing such as the EOG tests in reading and math. This was observed at all grade levels where data was collected. The effect of mobility on the performance on EOG reading and math tests was also examined as it affects the performance of males and females. Males were observed to perform significantly better on the reading EOG tests. Their performance on the EOB math test was varied. Finally, the effect of mobility on middle school students' performance on EOG reading and math tests was examined as it related to race. White mobile students scored higher than Black mobile middle school students on the EOG reading and math tests.

Download or read book Exploring Rapid Achievement Gains in North Carolina and Texas Lessons from the States written by David Grissmer and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1998 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The National Education Goals Panel (NEGP) tracks and reports annually on 33 indicators linked to the 8 National Education Goals. The NEGP's 1997 report showed positive gains on the greatest number of indicators for North Carolina and Texas. These gains included significant gains on the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics. The NEGP commissioned this study to see if the improvements were really significant and to try to identify the factors that could or could not account for the educational improvement in these two states. The analysis confirms that the gains in academic achievement in both states are both significant and sustained. North Carolina and Texas posted the largest gains on the NAEP administered between 1990 and 1997, and these results were mirrored in state assessments administered in the same period. There is also evidence that the scores of disadvantaged students improved more rapidly than those of advantaged students. Several factors commonly associated with student achievement, including real per-pupil spending, teacher/pupil ratios, teachers with advanced degrees, and experience levels of teachers, do not appear to explain the test score gains. Texas and North Carolina rank at or below the national averages on these characteristics, and none of them changed during the study period in ways that would explain the gains. The study concludes that the most plausible explanation for the score gains is found in the policy environment established in each state. Both states pursued similar paths to improvement, and each succeeded in changing the organizational environment and incentive structure for educators in ways that led to improvement. The keys to this change include: (1) creating an aligned system of standards, curriculum, and assessments; (2) holding schools accountable for improvement by all students; and (3) support from businesses in developing, implementing, and sustaining these changes over time. (Contains 16 figures, 4 tables, and 18 references.) (Author/SLD)

Download or read book The Relationship Between North Carolina Middle School Academic Growth And The Implementation Level Of Key Middle School Practices A Study For Middle School Decision Makers written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Without hard data on the impact on student academic achievement, decision-makers are wary of fully implementing key middle school practices. To provide hard data for middle school decision-makers, this study was conducted. The aim of this study was to provide an accurate description of the status of middle schools in the state of North Carolina and to determine the relationship that exists between the degree of implementation of key middle school practices and student academic growth when controlling for school location, school size, student body race/ethnicity, and student body socioeconomic status. Study findings revealed that North Carolina middle schools with grade configurations 5-8 or 6-8 that participated in this study are implementing many of the key middle school practices as outlined in middle school literature and the majority of the participating schools indicated that they have been implementing key middle school practices over five years. In addition, two findings were identified by statistical analyses. First, analyses indicated that the implementation level and the number of years a North Carolina middle school met expected academic growth was not statistically significant. The second finding was that the degree of implementation of key middle school practices was a predictor of expected academic growth for one of the years in this study. Although other programs for that school year might have played into the North Carolina middle schools expected academic growth rates, this finding is relevant to North Carolina middle school decision makers. One year of testing data can be explored to see what key middle school practices were implemented that led to the increase of student academic achievement.

Download or read book Impact of a Citizenship Program on Middle School Students written by Jeanette Alcock Mughal and published by Anchor Academic Publishing (aap_verlag). This book was released on 2015-02 with total page 109 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The focus on behaviour became an important feat to accomplish. The query was based on the disruptive methods students would use in order to circumvent basic rules and regulations within their learning communities. The old standard rule of teacher being in “charge of the classroom” with a mixture of a fear factor, (secretly diagnosed as respect) no longer was evident. President Bush’s introduction of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates was brilliant with ist idea of inclusivity, but near eliminated accountability for those able students. Teachers became the main target group of this experiment in the promotion of all students. They became, scapegoats, if you will, of a system that made them accountable, and left those who should have been accountable in meeting educational objectives: administration, and more so, the student. Teachers became overwhelmed with teaching objectives and a multitude of paperwork to facilitate this new structure of responsibility. Actual teaching was foregone under the weight of segmenting students into their proper groups, then find the time to discipline and ensure that all pass the required end-of-year examinations. The result of these initiatives was to the repeal of NCLB, and schools becoming big business, with the teacher benefiting less under a continual weight of professional servitude, and the standard--no voice.

Download or read book Dissertation Abstracts International written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Relationship Between Rural Middle School Student Mathematics Achievement and Classroom Sense of Community written by John E. Donlan and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Impact of Student Mobility on Middle School Academic Achievement written by Donna P. Burd and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Case Study of a Priority Middle School Involved in the North Carolina Turnaround Initiative written by Jo Beth Clark and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2007, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction included low-performing middle schools in its Turnaround Initiative. The purpose of this initiative was to offer support and guidance to designated low-performing middle schools across the state. This research study was a descriptive case study that involved a North Carolina priority middle school located in the north central part of the Piedmont, which served a diverse, low socioeconomic population. This research study investigated how the implementation of the North Carolina Turnaround Initiative impacted the school's culture and reviewed student achievement trends for the years 2007-2010, covering 3 school years. -- This descriptive case study used a mixed-methods design and looked at the implementation of the required Framework for Action based on the Schools to Watch Academic Excellence Criteria, as required of North Carolina Turnaround Initiative for middle schools. Through descriptive statistics, it evaluated teacher perceptions of five constructs of the 2008 and 2010 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Surveys. Also, this study conducted focus groups and individual interviews to assess for any changes in the school culture and reviewed end-of-grade scores during 2007-2010 to ascertain if student achievement trends presented any change during the time the school was in the Turnaround Initiative. -- The findings of this study indicated that the study school implemented its Framework for Action as required of middle schools that were involved in the North Carolina Turnaround Initiative, and there was both a positive change in school culture and an improvement evidenced in student achievement trends. The results of this study are consistent with previous research supporting the importance of a positive school culture to school improvement.

Download or read book Effect of Student Mobility on Academic Achievement of Students at Cascade Junior High School written by Karen Lynn Van Selus Carlson and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Relationship Between North Carolina Middle School Academic Growth and the Implementation Level of Key Middle School Practices written by Judith Lynn Uhler Williams and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Keywords: key middle school practices, academic achievement, middle schools, education.

Download or read book An Investigation of the Relationship of Middle School Practices and Student Academic Achievement in Alabama s Public Middle Schools written by Mark Diffley Neighbors and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Examining the Role of Early Academic and Non Cognitive Skills as Mediators of the Effects of City Connects on Middle School Academic Outcomes written by Laura M. O'Dwyer and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 17 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Out-of-school factors can significantly impact students' readiness to learn and thrive in school. Research confirms that larger social structures and contexts beyond the school are critical, accounting for up to two-thirds of the variance in student achievement (Coleman et al., 1966; Rothstein, 2010; Phillips, Brooks-Gunn, Duncan, Klebanov, & Crane, 1998; Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000). These out-of-school factors can be particularly pernicious in the context of poverty. For children living in poverty, limited resources and chronic stressors can result in poor attendance, high mobility, social-emotional dysfunction, and lack of readiness for school (Dearing, 2008). Even in the face of significant family strengths (Strauss, 2013), poverty can limit families' abilities to invest money, time and energy in children's growth and expose children to chaos and environmental contagions (Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997; Evans, 2004). Many have argued that schools cannot hope to close the achievement gap without addressing out-of-school factors (Berliner 2013; Bryk, et al., 2010). Historically, schools have addressed some of these factors through the work of school nurses, counselors, social workers, and psychologists, but student support has varied widely, without a standardized set of practices (Lean & Colucci, 2010). The research described here was conducted as part of the evaluation of City Connects, a theoretically-guided, evidence-based approach to addressing out-of-school barriers to achievement and thriving in high-poverty urban elementary schools. This study extends prior research by examining the mechanisms that lead to the positive impact of City Connects on later academic achievement. The research question is: Are the positive effects of City Connects on student academic achievement (standardized test scores) mediated by students' early academic and non-cognitive skills (effort, behavior, work habits)? Although the mediation hypothesis was not confirmed by the data at hand, the study provides evidence that with high-quality elementary school student support, early academic and noncognitive skills lead to later achievement. Tables and figures are appended.

Download or read book The Academic Achievement Gap in Grades 3 to 8 written by Charles T. Clotfelter and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using data for North Carolina public school students in grades 3 to 8, we examine achievement gaps between white students and students from other racial and ethnic groups. We focus on successive cohorts of students who stay in the state's public schools for all six years, and study both differences in means and in quantiles. Our results on achievement gaps between black and white students are consistent with those from other longitudinal studies: the gaps are sizable, are robust to controls for measures of socioeconomic status, and show no monotonic trend between 3rd and 8th grade. In contrast, both Hispanic and Asian students tend to gain on whites as they progress through these grades. Looking beyond simple mean differences, we find that the racial gaps between low-performing students have tended to shrink as students progress through school, while racial gaps between high-performing students have widened. Racial gaps differ widely across geographic areas within the state; very few of the districts or groups of districts that we examined have managed simultaneously to close the black-white gap and raise the relative test scores of black students.

Download or read book A Comparative Assessment of Student Achievement in Middle Schools and Junior High Schools in North Carolina School Systems written by Mary Thigpen Barnes and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study assesses the difference in student achievement between 8th graders housed in middle schools and those housed in junior high schools.

Download or read book EXAMINING THE RELIABILITY OF MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRESS INDICATORS AND THEIR POTENTIAL FOR SUPPORTING THE GOAL OF COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS written by Steven Weber and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: College and career readiness is the new goal for American students. College and career readiness is a process that begins prior to high school. As school districts implement programs and strategies for supporting college and career readiness, it will be important to analyze which students are off-track. In order to determine readiness, educators will need a set of indicators to monitor. This research study examined the reliability of middle school progress indicators and their potential impact on supporting high school readiness, along with college and career readiness. For the purpose of this study, the following definition of College and Career Readiness was used. In North Carolina, students are considered career and college ready when they have the knowledge and academic preparation needed to enroll and succeed, without the need for remediation, in introductory college credit-bearing courses in English Language Arts and Mathematics within an associate or baccalaureate degree program. These same attributes and levels of achievement are needed for entry into and success in postsecondary workforce education, the military or directly into a job that offers gainful employment and career advancement (North Carolina State Board of Education, 2015). Research in the area of college and career readiness is limited, because the goal of the traditional American high school was to sort and select some students for college and the rest for careers or the workforce. This study provides middle school principals with insight regarding the use of progress indicators that could support decision-making and identification of students who are off-track for high school readiness. Policymakers can utilize current findings to refine or develop new policies regarding college and career readiness and the use of indicators at the middle school level. Parents and students could also benefit from the information presented in this research, if there are middle school progress indicators that could illuminate whether or not each student is on-track for success in high school. This study analyzed multiple indicators that could assist educators as they support each student in becoming high school ready.

Download or read book Geographical Mobility and Academic Achievement of a Group of Ninth Grade Junior High School Students written by Mary Livingston Stegall and published by . This book was released on 1966 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Effective Practices for Middle School Students with Multiple Needs E R Research Alert E R Report No 06 22 written by Wake County Public School System (WCPSS), Evaluation and Research Department and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Analysis of Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) End-of-Grade (EOG) performance results indicates that WCPSS students with the most difficulty reaching accountability standards are those with more than one of the following characteristics: are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRL), have disabilities (students with disabilities, or SWD), and/or have limited English proficiency (LEP). The Curriculum and Instruction Department (C&I) requested a study from the Evaluation and Research Department (E&R) to identify effective school practices that: (1) promote the achievement of students with multiple-risk factors (FRL, SWD, and LEP); and (2) provide schools with hope that they can meet the challenge of helping students with multiple needs grow academically. The study compared characteristics and practices of schools with greater and lesser success in promoting academic growth of students with multiple risk factors. Schools that had shown the most positive and least positive patterns of progress in achievement for multi-risk students were identified. Data were collected through school and teacher observations, staff interviews, and staff checklists. Findings, implications, and questions for consideration are presented in this report. [For more information see the full report: www.wcpss.net/evaluationresearch/reports/2006/0603effectiveness03_06el em_middle.pdf.].