| Scott Graves
Bowling Green State University
School and child level predictors of academic achievement for African Americans in 3rd grade: Implications for No Child Left Behind
FINAL REPORT:
The purpose of this study was to examine the academic achievement of African American children in the 3rd grade. Specifically, the researcher sought to determine what school and teacher classroom level characteristics were related to students who were on grade level in the subject area of reading.
The participants for this study were all of African American children who participated in the ECLS-K. There were approximately 2500 African American children who were nested in 650 classrooms, with the division of gender being approximately equal. Similar to national statistics, 54 % of African American children grow up in single parent homes. In regards to socioeconomic status, 32.8% of African Americans were located in the first quintile, 23% in the second quintile, 19.9% in the third, 15.7% in the fourth, and 8.6% in the fifth. In relation to the Level-2 measures, 62% of African American children were taught by teachers without masters degrees. In addition, 17% of teachers who serve African American students do not possess a standard teaching certification. In regards to the outcome variables, 24.8% of African American children were not on grade level in reading.
To examine relationships between predictor and outcome variables, Hierarchical General Liner Modeling (HGLM) was utilized. The independent variables for the student/level-1 portion of this study were: Socioeconomic status, Home based parent involvement/academic, Home based parent involvement/social, School based parent involvement, perceived personal competency, parent type, and previous achievement as measured by 1st grade reading scores. The teacher classroom/level-2 variables consisted of teacher education level, teacher certification type, time spent on reading per day, teacher enjoys present job, teacher would choose teaching again, and teachersÕ perception of students reading ability. The outcome variable for this study was being on grade level in reading during the 3rd grade school year.
Results from the HGLM analyses revealed significant and positive relationships between socioeconomic status, perceived personal competency, previous achievement, teacher certification type and whether or not a teacher enjoys their present job. Of these significant results, at the student level SES and previous achievement and perceived personal competency were the strongest predictors; while at the teacher classroom level, certification type demonstrated the most significant effects on being on level in 3rd grade.
As a result of the ethnic disparities in academic in achievement and Federal governmental initiatives that are designed to remedy these problems (i.e. NCLB), documenting factors that contribute to the development of appropriate reading, math, and science practices in African Americans is of the utmost importance. Given that the results of this study have demonstrated that factors that are modifiable (e.g. teacher certification, 1st grade achievement, perceived personal competency, teacher job satisfaction) contribute to African American children being on grade level, policy makers should focus their efforts to increase intervention at early levels (e.g. kindergarten/1st grade) and provide children with high quality teachers because these factors are significantly related the NCLBÕs central goal of all children being on grade level.
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