William Kritsonis, Clarence Johnson, Dissertation Proposal

1
IMPACT OF HIGH SCHOOL MATHEMATICS CURRICULA ON
THE MATHEMATICS TAKS EXIT-LEVEL PERFORMANCE OF
AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS

• Presented By
• Clarence Johnson
• September, 2007
• Dissertation Proposal Defense

2
Committee Members

• William A. Kritsonis, Ph.D.
• (Dissertation Chair)
• Douglas Hermond, Ph.D.
• (Member)
• David Herrington, Ph.D.
• (Member)
• Pamela Barber-Freeman, Ph.D.
• (Member)
• Veda Brown, Ph.D.
• (Outside Member)

3
Proposal Defense Outline

1. The Problem
2. Purpose of Study
3. Research Questions
4. Hypotheses
5. Importance of Study
6. Review of Literature
7. Research Design

4
The Problem

• In the United States, remedial mathematics
  classrooms contain large number of African
  American students however, advanced mathematics
  classes mainly served White students (Snipes
  Waters, 2005).
• Luebienski (2001) reported that, in both 1990 and
  1996, White students in the lowest socioeconomic
  subgroup scored equal to or higher than African
  American students in the highest socioeconomic
  subgroup.

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The Problem

• In a summary of four national surveys reported
  between 1969 and 1987, Horn (1990) found that
  Asians earned twice the number of mathematics and
  science credits than did Whites, and Whites
  earned twice the number of credits for those
  subjects than did African Americans or Hispanics.

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The Problem

• Forty-three percent of African American high
  school students failed the Texas Assessment of
  Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Exit-Level
  Mathematics Test in 2005. Current documentation
  indicates the failure rate is higher among
  African American students than any other ethnic
  groups (TEA Accountability System State Data
  Table, 2005).

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New Jersey Mathematics Curriculum Framework
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New Jersey Mathematics Curriculum Framework
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Purpose of the Study

• Investigate the relationship of high school
  mathematics curricula on the mathematics TAKS
  Exit-Level performance of African American
  students using the New Jersey Mathematics
  Curriculum Framework.

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Purpose of the Study

• Investigate high expectations in mathematics for
  all students using the New Jersey Mathematics
  Curriculum Framework.

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Research Questions

• Quantitative
• 1. What is the impact of the decision of African
  American students to enroll in track one or track
  two in the eighth and ninth grades mathematics
  and the pass/fail status on the eleventh grade
  Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS)
  Exit-Level Mathematics Test?

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Research Questions

• Quantitative
• 2. What is the impact of African American eighth
  and ninth grade mathematics students pass/fail
  status on the eleventh grade Texas Assessment of
  Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Exit-Level
  Mathematics Test among six high school campuses
  within a large urban school district?

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Research Questions

• Quantitative
• 3. What is the impact of African American eighth
  and ninth grade students enrolled in track 1 or
  track 2 mathematics and advancing in mathematics
  learning by entering in chemistry, physics,
  pre-calculus, AP Physics, or AP Calculus in the
  eleventh and twelfth grades?

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Research Questions

• Quantitative
• 4. What factors do counselors identify as
  influential on African American students
  placement in track 1 or track 2 in eighth and
  ninth grades mathematics?

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Hypotheses

• Ho1 There is no statistically significant
  relationship between the decision to enroll in
  track 1 or track 2 in the eighth and ninth grades
  mathematics and pass/fail status of African
  American students on the eleventh grade Texas
  Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS)
  Exit-Level Mathematics Test.

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Hypotheses

• Ho2 There is no statistically significant
  relationship between African American eighth and
  ninth grades mathematics students pass/fail
  status on the eleventh grade Texas Assessment of
  Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Exit-Level
  Mathematics Test among six high school campuses
  within a large urban school district .

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Hypotheses

• Ho3 There is no statistically significant
  relationship between the African American eighth
  and ninth grade students enrolled in track 1 or
  track 2 mathematics and advancing in mathematics
  learning by entering in chemistry, physics,
  pre-calculus, AP Physics, or AP Calculus in the
  eleventh and twelfth grades.

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Importance of Study

• Results of the study could provide a learning
  foundation for educational leadership in areas
  where the increased success of African American
  students on the mathematics exit-level tests has
  been identified.

19
Review of Literature

• No Child Left Behind
• On January 8, 2002, President Bush signed the No
  Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) into law to begin
  educational reform designed to improve student
  achievement and change American school culture
  (Jones Hancock, 2005).

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Review of Literature

• Eighth-Grade Mathematics as the Gate-keeper to
  Advanced Mathematics Learning
• In 1996, the National Assessment of Educational
  Progress (NAEP) revealed that for Grade 4, 8, and
  12, less than one third of U.S. students were
  proficient or above in mathematics and science
  (Glenn, 2000).

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Review of Literature

• African American Students in Advanced
  Mathematics Courses
• Unfortunately, African American students in
  education today often experience a low-level,
  watered-down curriculum, negative perceptions
  about their ability, and low expectations
  regarding their achievement (Russell, 2005).

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Review of Literature

• Middle School Course Selection Patterns
• In their analysis of American students
  achievement in the Third International
  Mathematics and Science Study, William Schmidt
  and his colleagues (1999) noticed how tracking
  creates differences in students opportunities to
  study mathematics and how reduced opportunities
  result in lower achievement.

23
Review of Literature

• Disparities in Mathematics Achievement and
  Instruction
• National Assessment of Educational Progress
  (NAEP) data suggest that most African American
  students are not experiencing instructional
  practices consistent with the recommendations
  suggested by the National Council of Teachers of
  Mathematics (NCTM), whereas more white students
  are experiencing NCTM standards-based instruction
  (Lubienski, 2001).

24
Review of Literature

• Minority Gap in Mathematics
• According to a 2004 report from the California
  Teacher Association (CTA), the widening
  achievement gap in Californias public schools
  raises many questions about educational equality.
  
• The report further indicated that in 1990, there
  was a 33 point gap between the scores of Black
  and White students on the National Assessment of
  Educational Progress (NEAP) mathematics test at
  the eighth grade level as compared to 2000
  scores, the gap had grown to a 39 point gap.

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Review of Literature

• Impact of the Mathematics Curricula on the
  Success of African American Students
• As Warren Simmons of the Casey Foundation
  observed, the nation entered the 1990s with twin
  goals for education reform. One of the goals was
  to create curricula and instructional approaches
  that would help all students attain world-class
  levels of achievement (Futrell Brown, 2000).

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Research Design

• The research design for this study is in two
  phases. Phase one is a correlational study based
  on post hoc data. The Pearsons r statistic will
  be used to determine whether various factors are
  related to academic success in mathematics as
  measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and
  Skills Exit-Level Mathematics Test. Phase two is
  a survey of 27 counselors to determine factors
  for mathematics placement of African American
  students in the eighth and ninth grade. These
  data will be reported as descriptive data.

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Subjects of the Study

• Participants for the study will include 262
  African American eleventh grade students and 27
  eighth grade counselors. The students will be
  identified from the population of 827 eleventh
  grade students enrolled in mathematics courses in
  six high schools in a large urban school
  district.

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Simple Random Sampling

• The targeted population of 827 African American
  eleventh grade students enrolled in the
  eleventh grade in 2006-2007 will be involved in
  the random sample.
• Krejcie and Morgan in 1970 generated a model of
  appropriate sample size (Barlett, Kotrick,
  Higgins, 2001).

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Instruments

• In the study the dependent variables, exit-level
  tests achievement, will be measured by the
  mathematics portion of the Texas Assessment of
  Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Exit-Level
  Mathematics Test scores. Texas Assessment of
  Knowledge and Skill (TAKS) Exit-Level Mathematics
  Test has been found valid and reliable in the
  Texas Education Agency. The Texas Assessment of
  Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Exit-Level Test is
  also a criterion-referenced test, and was found
  to be reliable and valid for measuring the
  achievement in the mathematics courses as
  outlined by the Texas Essential Knowledge and
  Skills curriculum.

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Instruments

• A survey containing 15 questions will be given to
  27 eighth grade counselors. The 15 questions on
  the counselors survey will be field tested. The
  dependent variables, documentation of the
  counselors survey will be reported as
  descriptive data.

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Data Collection

• Quantitative
• A letter from the superintendent of schools will
  be requested for an approval of retrieving
  students data. School district archived data
  that include student identification number,
  demographic data, course requirements, course
  selections, program participation, and at-risk
  identification will be collected and kept under
  locked files by the investigator.
• A master-schedule from 2003-2004 will be printed,
  and the classes will be counted. Students
  records will be accessed through Schools
  Administrative Student Information Systems
  (SASIxp). These records will be used to track
  student progress from eighth grade to high
  school.

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Data Analysis
Independent Variables Dependent Variables Statistic
Eighth and Ninth Grades Students enrolled in track 1 or track 2 TAKS Raw Scores Correlational Method using Post Hoc Data
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Data Analysis

• School master schedules will be utilized to match
  the eighth grade and ninth grades students
  enrolled in track 1 or track 2 with the
  respective TAKS Exit-Level raw scores.

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Data Analysis

• 1. State the null hypothesis There is no
  statistically significant relationship between
  the decision to enroll in track 1 or track 2 in
  the eighth and ninth grades mathematics and
  pass/fail status of African American students on
  the eleventh grade Texas Assessment of Knowledge
  and Skills (TAKS) Exit-Level Mathematics Test.
• 2. Use Correlational Method Use Pearsons r

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Data Analysis

• 3. Use the Alpha Level P lt 0.05.
• 4. Compute statistic using SPSS.
• 5. Apply the rejection rule P lt 0.05 reject the
  null hypothesis
• Analyze your Descriptive Statistics Table and
  your Correlations Table.

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Data Analysis
Independent Variables Dependent Variables Statistic
Survey Questions Counselors Responses Descriptive Documentation
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Data Analysis

• Develop matrix for data gathering.
• Develop protocol
• Arrange a meeting with each counselor to meet for
  60 minutes to retrieve responses.
• Meet with 27 counselors and deliver instructions
  on the process of responding to the 15 questions
  on the survey.
• Document all responses by the 27 counselors.