Last year, Hispanic and African American high school graduates met ACT's College Readiness Benchmarks in English, reading, mathematics, and science at substantially lower rates than did Asian and White graduates. For example, the rate of White graduates who were college ready in English (77%) was twice that of their African American peers (35%).…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the score differences on the Texas Academic Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Reading and Mathematics measures among students in Grades 10 and 11 as a function of music enrollment. Specifically, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and enrollment in choir, band, or orchestra or no music enrollment…

Nationally, millions of students in grades 7-12 are at risk of dropping out of high school because of low literacy skills, poor attendance, and class failure. The absence of a college- and career-ready education for these students is a civil rights and social justice issue that the federal government cannot ignore. Unfortunately, many of these…

The purpose of the quantitative research study was to determine if participation in the Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA) led to significant differences in the math and reading/language arts scores on the West Virginia Educational Standards Test 2 (WESTEST 2), between students who participated in the program compared to students who…

The current migration of Latino/as into the United States has many schools struggling to meet the unique academic needs of this particular group of students. Previous research suggests level of acculturation and perceived social support impact mathematics achievement amongst Latino/a students. The current study employed hierarchical and…

Massachusetts policymakers have expressed concern about the consistently lower scores of Hispanic students, compared to other subgroups, on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). This summary describes a larger report that examines Hispanic high school students' performance on the MCAS tests in English language arts and…

The District conducts a "cross-sectional" analysis of student dropouts annually; it examines dropout rates among students enrolled in various grades at one point in time. A "longitudinal" analysis, also conducted annually, tracks a group of students in the same grade or cohort over a period of several years. Each method…

The Monitoring the Future (MTF) project reports annually on levels and trends in self-reported substance use by secondary school students (e.g., Johnston, O'Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2009). The reports include subgroup comparisons, and these have revealed substantial differences among race/ethnicity groups, as well as some differences…

This article presents a study of ethnic Differential Item Functioning (DIF) for 4th-, 7th-, and 10th-grade reading items on a state criterion-referenced achievement test. The tests, administered 1997 to 2001, were composed of multiple-choice and constructed-response items. Item performance by focal groups (i.e., students from Asian/Pacific Island,…

This study examined the developmental effects of early parental intrinsic and extrinsic motivational strategies on mathematics achievement scores obtained from White students compared to underrepresented minority students. A latent growth curve model was fit to data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY) with mathematics achievement…

The District conducts a "cross-sectional" analysis of student dropouts annually; it examines dropout rates among students enrolled in various grades at one point in time. A "longitudinal" analysis, also conducted annually, tracks a group of students in the same grade or cohort over a period of several years. Each method…

Participation in school-based extracurricular activities influences educational success. Thus, it is important to depict a profile of school-based extracurricular activity involvement for a Latino student population that is marginalized in schools. This research uses the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 and logistic regression analyses to…

National education data indicate that young men of color and students living in poverty are not experiencing the same academic success as their female, White, or higher socioeconomic status peers, as evidenced by low reading achievement levels and high dropout rates. Of particular concern is the underachievement of Latino males, who currently have…

There has been continued concern over the continued high dropout rate among Mexican origin youth. The purpose of this study is to understand how everyday experiences in school shape the content and meaning of Mexican origin students' social identities and how those social identities influence their academic trajectories over the transition to…

Massachusetts policymakers recently expressed a desire to better understand Hispanic student achievement patterns in their state. Scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests have consistently revealed a gap in performance between Hispanic students and students from other subgroups, a gap corresponding to national…