Texas Rural vs. Nonrural School District Student Growth Trajectories on a High-Stakes Science Exam: A Multilevel Approach

Zhuoying Wang, Shifang Tang and Kara Sutton-Jones
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Zhuoying Wang: Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA
Shifang Tang: Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA
Kara Sutton-Jones: Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA

Social Sciences, 2019, vol. 8, issue 6, 1-19

Abstract: This study compares the science achievement growth trajectories of fifth-grade students in rural and nonrural school districts in Texas. Using a growth hierarchical linear model, we explored the effects of time, school location (rural vs. nonrural), and their interaction on students’ science performance as measured by the high-stakes State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) science test over five academic years. We found that rural school students lagged in science at the initial stage when STAAR was first administered in the 2011–2012 school year. With time, the gap between rural and nonrural district students’ science performance persisted. We further added eight district-level factors that might influence students’ academic performance into the model and found that three variables (i.e., student mobility rate, percentage of students identified ELs, and teacher turnover rate) constantly influenced students’ science scores. The implications for teaching pedagogy and research are discussed regarding science education in Texas rural districts.

Keywords: Texas rural school districts; science; academic achievement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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