Achievement Gaps: How Hispanic and White Students in Public Schools Perform in Mathematics and Reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Statistical Analysis Report. NCES 2011-459
Author: Hemphill, F. Cadelle
Date: 2011-06-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Achievement Gap,Public Schools,Family Income,Lunch Programs,National Competency Tests,Statistical Analysis,Grade 4,White Students,Hispanic American Students,Mathematics Achievement,Reading Achievement,Grade 8,Scores,Evaluation,English (Second Language),Statistical Significance

This report provides detailed information on the size of the achievement gaps between Hispanic and White public school students at the national and state levels and describes how those achievement gaps have changed over time. Additional information about race/ethnicity in NAEP is given in Appendix A. Most of the data in this report is derived from the results of the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) main assessments in mathematics and reading; however the trend data provided is derived from results from as early as 1990. &quot;Achievement Gaps: How Hispanic and White Students in Public Schools Perform in Mathematics and Reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress&quot;, follows the previous report that provided similar information on the achievement gap between Black and White students. Specifically the two major questions addressed in this study are: (1) How do score gaps in 2009 mathematics and reading performance compare to the gaps in the initial and most recent prior years of the NAEP national and state assessment series; and (2) How do Hispanic and White scores and gaps in mathematics and reading at the state level compare to the national scores and gaps in 2009? Following an introduction, the remainder of this report presents first mathematics and then reading results. The mathematics section is color-coded with green page margins while the reading section is color-coded with blue margins. In each section, national results appear first. Information on scores and score gaps over time is presented at the national level for fourth- and eighth-grade Hispanic and White public school students. Similar comparisons are included for White and non-ELL Hispanic students and for non-ELL and ELL Hispanic students. National data also include information on scores and score gaps over time for Hispanic and White students by gender and by family income as measured by eligibility for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). State-level data include scores and score gaps over time for fourth- and eighth-grade Hispanic and White public school students for each state, limited by non-participation of some states in the early NAEP assessments and by the fact that NAEP did not always obtain samples of Hispanic or White students large enough to allow the reporting of reliable results. Because Hispanic populations have changed significantly over time, percentages of White and Hispanic students are given for each state for the first assessment in which the state participated and for the most recent assessment in 2009. In addition, the size of the gap in 2009 for each state is compared against the Hispanic-White gap nationally and the scores of Hispanic and White students in each state are compared against the national averages for Hispanic and White students. Among the results were that, in 2009, NAEP mathematics scores for both Hispanic and White students in grades 4 and 8 nationwide were higher than in 1990, the first assessment year for both Hispanic and White public school students. Mathematics scores increased, but the achievement gap between Hispanic and White students did not change significantly at either grade 4 or 8 from 1990 to 2009. For reading, at the national level, reading scores increased for both groups significantly, but the achievement gap between Hispanic and White students did not change for fourth- or eighth-graders when comparing 1992 to 2009. Appended are: (1) Technical Notes; and (2) Supplemental Tables. (Contains 13 tables and 28 figures.