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An examination of the relationship between test scores, gender, ethnicity, attendance, and graduation

Freeman, James A., III

Abstract Details

2007, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Educational Policy and Leadership.
Graduation from high school occurs when students have passed the tenth grade Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT), attended a public or private school for the required number of days, and completed the necessary number of Carnegie units. The study was designed to examine the relationship between student graduation, gender, ethnicity, OGT Reading raw scores, OGT Mathematics raw scores, the number of days absent over four years, and the number of days present in school over four years. The Ohio Graduation Tests reflect the material that has been taught through the 10th grade, and are based on the new academic standards. The OGT Reading scores and OGT Mathematics scores are used to determine adequate yearly progress (AYP) as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The goal of NCLB is for every student and student group to meet the proficient level in reading and mathematics by 2014. States must test to measure AYP and proficiency. Several instances of gender and ethnic differences in testing were found in the literature. Males generally score higher on math tests. Females generally score higher on reading tests. Testing in general has been used to classify people. Historically, mental testing in schools classified students into ability groups. The study used a convenience sample with an ex post facto design. Data were collected using the students of the graduating class of 2005-2006 from a Central Ohio urban high school. The sample size was 133, with 123 students graduating and 10 students not graduating. Descriptive statistics were used to gain an overall picture of the students, their OGT Reading and Mathematics raw scores, and the instruction time. Multiple regression and logistic regression was used to examine the relationships between the dependent and independent variables in the research questions. The results of this study found no significant relationships in test scores between gender and ethnicity. The independent variables were unable to predict student graduation. Students in this sample scored lower on both the OGT Reading and OGT Mathematics portions of the test compared to the state population. The sample level of proficiency was lower than the state percentage.
William Loadman (Advisor)
143 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Freeman, III, J. A. (2007). An examination of the relationship between test scores, gender, ethnicity, attendance, and graduation [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1180539637

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Freeman, III, James. An examination of the relationship between test scores, gender, ethnicity, attendance, and graduation. 2007. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1180539637.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Freeman, III, James. "An examination of the relationship between test scores, gender, ethnicity, attendance, and graduation." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1180539637

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)