Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Pedro Hernandez
Committee Member
Armando Rodriguez
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
achievement gap, applied dissertation, archival data, Black students, compensatory education, elementary schools, extended school day, Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, fourth-grade students, Hispanic students, lexile scores, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Miami Park Elementary School, parental involvement, professional development, reading achievement, reading instruction, Scholastic Reading Inventory, state standards, supplementary education, teacher performance, Title I, tutorial services, White students
Abstract
In 2000-01 and 2001-02, schools with populations of poor, Black, and Hispanic 4th-grade students indicated different levels of reading achievement as demonstrated by a 4% rank difference on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test in 2000-01 and an 11%-point difference in 2001-02 between the highest point and lowest demographically similar Title I schools. Miami Park Elementary is a Miami-Dade County Public School receiving Title I funds due to their large population of Black and Hispanic students eligible to receive free and reduced-price lunch. Fifty-eight percent of 4th-grade students at Miami Park Elementary School did not meet state standards in reading as demonstrated by the 2001 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
Interventions to use Title I supplemental funds effectively to narrow the achievement gap in reading among Black, White, and Hispanic students included the development of the Title I Model Program. The Title I Model Program focused on enhancing teacher performance through professional development activities, providing tutorial services in reading to the most academically needy student population, and supporting parental involvement and participation. Archival data were utilized to determine student performance levels and achievement before and after the implementation of the intervention.
The implementation of this applied dissertation resulted in an improvement in student achievement levels in 4th-grade students. Based on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test Norm-Referenced Reading Test, the 4th-grade students achieved an almost 3% increase over their 2002 scores. Additionally, of the students who participated in the study, 50% increased their 2002 Scholastic Reading Inventory (Scholastic, 1999) lexile score by at least 1 grade level, 92% of the students increased their reading grade point average by 1, and 1% increased their reading grade point average by 2. Further, these figures substantiated a decrease in the achievement gap among Black, White, and Hispanic students.