| dc.description.abstract | With close to a million Texas students attending rural schools, research on what influences student achievement is needed to guide policy, practice, and further research. Building on research relating student demographic variables and per student spending in rural schools to student achievement, through this dissertation research I used quantitative methods to investigate which of those variables contributed to student achievement in mathematics in Texas rural schools.
Employing a ex post facto design, STAAR Algebra I EOC assessment and demographic data from 1090 students in Texas rural schools were used to examine the relationships between the variables and what impacts student achievement in mathematics in Texas rural schools. This group was compared to a nonrural group of Texas schools from the same dataset.
Rural schools were shown to have significantly lower achievement scores than their nonrural counterparts (d=.095, CI=(.034,.155)). When controlling for race and per student spending in rural schools, student sex and SES were shown to be significant predictors of student achievement. When holding all other variables constant, for a change of one unit in SES, on average the decrease in score is nearly 500 points. Non-FRPL students scored significantly higher on the Algebra I EOC than their FRPL counterparts with the mean difference of 525.579 (d=.791 with a CI= (.657,.924)). There was no evidence to suggest a significant mean difference between male and female student achievement on average. White students scored significantly higher on average than the average of both their Black and Hispanic peers, with the true value of the mean difference being between 323 and 560. There was not a different effect of per student spending on achievement based on locality. There was not a different effect of per student spending on achievement based on SES.
The discussion of the context of the results in this study included the lack of consensus on a few the predictor variables, including race and per student spending. The study also included a discussion of student SES being perhaps the most important predictor variable when considering student achievement in rural schools. Policy, practice, and research recommendations were provided to conclude the study. | |
