0.2 Reading and math differences between hispanic students and  (Page 6/10)

Regarding the 2002-2003 academic year, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test resulted in statistically significant differences in passing rates in reading between Hispanic students and students who were LEP, z = -28.09, p <.001, and in passing rates in math, z = -24.15, p <.001. Effect sizes were large for reading, with a Cohen’s d of 1.21 for the reading pass rate difference, and moderate, with a Cohen’s d of 0.72 for the math pass rate difference (Cohen, 1988). Hispanic students averaged 22.24% points higher in their reading pass rates and 12.70% points higher in their math pass rates than students who were labeled LEP.

Trends

For the 7-year time period, the trend concerning the differences in passing rates in reading between Hispanic students and students who were LEP in elementary school revealed a continuous achievement gap. Hispanic students’ passing rates in reading averaged 19.19% to 24.94% higher than the reading passing rates of students who were LEP for reading, over the 7-year time period. The differences in passing rates in reading between Hispanic students and students who were LEP were evident throughout the 7-year testing period (http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/studies/testingtimeline.pdf). Readers are referred to Table 5 for the mean differences, effect sizes, and effect size ranges across the 7 years of data analyzed.

Differences in passing rates between Hispanic students and students who were LEP were discernible during the 2002-2003 school year, which coincided with the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act (http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/studies/testingtimeline.pdf). As previously mentioned, this law was enacted to bring stricter accountability for school campuses and districts, as well as 100% passing rates for all students by the 2013-2014 school year. The greatest difference in achievement between Hispanic students and students who were LEP was evident during the 2003-2006 school years. The wide discrepancy in passing rate between students corresponded with the administration of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test (http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/studies/testingtimeline.pdf). By the 2007-2008 school year, the mean difference between both groups began to decline and continued to decline the following school year. The narrowest gap occurred during the 2007-2008 school year (19.19%). All 7 years had a large effect sizes (Cohen, 1988). Readers are referred to Figure 1 for the trend that was present concerning the difference in passing rates in reading between Hispanic students and students who were LEP in elementary school, across a 7-year time period.