Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education
Advisor
Marcia O’Neil
Committee Member
Carole Trueman
Committee Member
Ronald P. Kern
Keywords
academic achievement, Alabama Mathematics, Science, and Technology Initiative, Alabama Science Assessment, assessment, control group, elementary school students, fifth-grade students, intervention, professional development, SAT-10, science achievement, science assessment, science education, science instruction, Stanford Achievement Test-10th Edition, student performance, urban schools
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to provide data for use by the science department in an urban school district regarding the Alabama Mathematics, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) to improve science achievement. The initiative offered teachers sustained, ongoing professional development and support in science. AMSTI data indicated an overall increase in student achievement at its sites as measured by the Stanford Achievement Test-10th Edition (SAT-10) and the Alabama Science Assessment.
Fifth-grade students from six schools in the district were involved in the study. Three were intervention schools participating in the AMSTI initiative. Three schools from the same district with similar characteristics were selected for comparison and were designated the control schools, which did not receive the intervention. Quantitative data from the SAT-10 science assessment and the Alabama Science Assessment (ASA) were collected. Tests were conducted to assess the difference in SAT-10 percentile scores of the intervention and control schools in 2007 and 2008. Tests were also conducted to assess the differences in student performance on the ASA for the intervention and control groups in 2008, 2009, and 2010.
There was no significant difference in the percentile scores on SAT-10 between 2007 and 2008 for the intervention group or for the control group. In 2007, there was a significant difference in the percentile scores of students on the SAT-10 with a larger percentage found in control group. In 2008, the intervention and control groups did not differ significantly in the percentile scores on the SAT-10. There was no statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups in student performance on the ASA in 2008. More students in the control group than in the intervention group met the content standards on the ASA in 2009. The intervention schools performed better than the control schools in 2010. There was a statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups in student performance on the ASA in 2010. A greater percentage of students in the intervention group than in the control group met the content standards on the ASA.