Academic Achievement Gaps of Students in Private School Settings as Compared To Their Counterparts in Regular Public Educational Settings

Author

April Yelani Ferguson, Nova Southeastern University

Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Jared Bucker

Committee Member

William Edmonds

Keywords

databases, internet, media selection, high schools, and teacher education

Abstract

This applied dissertation was designed to provide the effectiveness of promoting change management through historical findings of closing reading comprehension (i.e., vocabulary) achievement gaps with black and white 9th and 10th grade students in a private school and 66 participants in this study. Achievement gaps in education refers to the disparity in academic performance between groups of students (Ansell, 2011). The achievement gap shows up in grades, standardized-test scores, course selection, dropout rates, and college-completion rates and among other success measures. Achievement gaps occur when one group of students such as, students grouped by race/ethnicity, gender outperforms another group and the difference in average scores for the two groups is statistically significant that is, larger than the margin of error (National Assessment in Educational Progress, 2015). On the contrary, the new federal education law, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), provides a powerful opportunity for educators, administrators, school leaders, parents and families, and everyone who works on behalf of our children’s future, to ensure excellence and equity in our public schools—and to reclaim the promise of a truly high- quality, well-rounded education for every student (Taber, 2016). With that being stated, the potential cause of deficiencies in reading comprehension (i.e., vocabulary) were a lack of student practice and poor motivation as it pertains to reading (Binotti et al, 2001). An analysis of the data revealed that in reading that the average black student in 12th grade placed in the 13th percentile of the score distribution, meaning that 87th percent of white students in 12th grade scored ahead of the average black 12th grader. The Coleman Report also known as the "Equality of Education Opportunity," is a breakthrough report on education equity written by James Coleman (Camera, 2016).

NSUWorks Citation

April Yelani Ferguson. 2018. Academic Achievement Gaps of Students in Private School Settings as Compared To Their Counterparts in Regular Public Educational Settings. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. (639)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fse_etd/639.