DIFFERENCES IN READING PERFORMANCE OF TEXAS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AS A FUNCTION OF ECONOMIC STATUS, GENDER, AND ETHNICITY/RACE: A MULTIYEAR STATEWIDE STUDY

Purpose The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to examine the extent to which degree of economic status, gender, and ethnicity/race are related to the reading achievement of Texas elementary school students. The first purpose was to analyze the degree to which differences exist in reading performance by degree of economic disadvantage for elementary school students. A second purpose was to examine the extent to which differences are present in reading performance between boys and girls in elementary schools. Finally, a third purpose was to determine the extent to which differences are present in reading performance for four different ethnic/racial groups (i.e., Asian, White, Hispanic, and Black) of elementary school students. Archival data from the Texas Education Agency Public Education Information Management System was analyzed to make these determinations. A multiyear statewide analysis of academic performance of the state-mandated reading assessments in Grade 3 was used to determine the degree to which trends were present in reading performance by economic status, between boys and girls, and among different ethnic/racial groups. Method A causal-comparative research design was used in this quantitative study. Grade 3 STAAR archival data were obtained for the 2012-2013 through the 2014-2015 school years. Each of the three Reporting Categories was analyzed to determine if differences existed by degree of economic status, gender, and ethnic/racial groupings. Additionally, the percentage of students meeting the Level II Final Satisfactory Performance Standard was analyzed to determine progress in closing historic achievement gaps. Findings Students who were extremely poor had statistically significant lower average scores than students who were moderately poor on the Grade 3 STAAR Reading assessment. Both groups of students in poverty had lower reading scores than students who were not poor. Boys had statistically significantly lower average scores than girls in all reporting categories. Trends present across ethnic/racial groups were that Hispanic and Black students had statistically significantly lower average scores than Asian and White students and Black students had the statistically significant lowest average scores. Results were congruent with the existing literature regarding economic status, gender, and ethnicity/race as factors influencing literacy