The University of San Francisco USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Doctoral Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects 2010 Factors contributing to low performance among African American and Hispanic students on the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) Zelda Brown Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.edu/diss Recommended Citation Brown, Zelda, "Factors contributing to low performance among African American and Hispanic students on the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE)" (2010).edu/diss/392 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects at USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. For more information, please contact repository@usfca. The University of San Francisco FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO LOW PERFORMANCE AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN AND HISPANIC STUDENTS ON THE CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL EXIT EXAM (CAHSEE) A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education Learning and Instruction Department In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Doctor of Education by Zelda Brown San Francisco December 2010 i The University of San Francisco DISSERTATION ABSTRACT FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO LOW PERFORMANCE AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN AND HISPANIC STUDENTS ON THE CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL EXIT EXAM (CAHSEE) Beginning with the class of 2006, the California Department of Education requires that all students must pass the California high School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) to graduate from a public, California high school.
African Americans and Hispanic/Latino students have been overrepresented among those students who either fail the CAHSEE, or among those students who have yet to pass the CAHSEE. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of five factors (SES, prior test performance, diet quality, opportunity to learn, and stereotype threat) on the lower pass rates on the CAHSEE among African-Americans and Hispanic/Latino students. The researcher first identified a cohort of students who failed the CAHSEE on their first attempt as 10th-grade students. These students were then divided into two groups as 11th-grade students: those that passed the CAHSEE and those that did not pass the CAHSEE.
These two groups were compared with respect to SES, prior test performance, diet quality, and stereotype threat. In addition, student interviews were completed with a subsample of the students. There were four major findings in the study. First, even though they did not pass the CAHSEE as 10th-grade students, students who passed the CAHSEE as 11th-grade students had higher 10th-grade CAHSEE scores on both the CAHSEE-ELA and ii CAHSEE-M than students who did not pass the CAHSEE as 11th-grade students.
Second, students who passed the CAHSEE as 11th-grade students had higher 10th-grade California Standards Test scores in English and math than students who did not pass the CAHSEE as 11th-grade students. Third, students who passed the CAHSEE as 11th-grade students were enrolled in more rigorous English courses their first semester as 11th-grade students, although their grades were not appreciably better than those that did not pass as 11-grade students. In math, both those that passed and those that did not pass took similar math courses, but the grades of those that passed the CAHSEE as 11th-grade students were better than those that did not pass as 11th-grade students. Finally, no differences were found between those who passed the CAHSEE as 11th-grade students and those who did not in socioeconomic status, diet, or stereotype threat.
Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed. iii This dissertation, written under the direction of the candidate’s dissertation committee and approved by the members of the committee, has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. The content and research methodologies presented in this work represent the work of the candidate alone. Zelda Brown 1/20/2011 Candidate Date Dissertation Committee Robert Burns 1/20/2011 Chairperson Lanna Andrews 1/20/2011 Caryl Hodges 1/20/2011 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge those individuals who have been both instrumental and inspirational in helping me arrive at this point in my life.
Although there were times I felt like I was all alone in this quest, it was with your support and prayers that I preserved. First and foremost I give honor and glory to God, for it is with God that I can do all things. Then I personally want to thank Walter Roberts III, Dr. Burns, Dean Hodges, Dorenia Jenkins, Machelle Buckner, Arlene Laeno, Dorothy Biscoe, Dr.
Susan Evans, Dr. Lanna Andrews, Dr. Peggy Crane, Brandon Lee, Guadalupe Navarro, and the entire Sequoia Union High School District. It would take too much time for me to recount all of the words of encouragement and the gracious deeds all of you provided me.
However, I’d like to especially thank Brandon and Guadalupe for assisting me with the data I needed. Without your help, I could not have finished. I also want to thank Walter Roberts for all of your wisdom and financial support. I could not have done it without you either.
I thank Peggy for allowing me the release time. You made my life a lot easier and a lot less stressful by cooperating with me as I pursued my doctorate. And to the rest of you I say thank you for the wisdom, the prayers, and the encouragement. God bless each and every one of you.
v DEDICATION I would like to take the opportunity to say thank you to my parents for supporting me through my educational quest. I don’t know what I would have done had not both my Father, Samuel Brown, and my Mother, Erma Jean Brown, encouraged me and financially supported me throughout this odyssey. I know how much it means to both of you to see your children excel. I’m equally aware of the sacrifices the two of you endured to see that we were properly educated.
I can never repay either of you, literally, for your tremendous sacrifice; but I can say with all my heart, thank you. It is with tremendous honor that I dedicate this dissertation to you. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF CONTENTS vii LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF FIGURES x CHAPTER ONE: STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 1 Purpose of the Study 5 Significance of the Study 6 Theoretical Rationale 8 Background and Need 11 Research Questions 20 Definition of Terms 21 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 22 High School Exit Exams (HSEEs) 22 The California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) 24 Causes of low CAHSEE Performance 26 Socioeconomic Status (SES) 27 Prior Test Performance 28 Diet Quality 31 Opportunity to Learn 34 Stereotype Threat 39 Summary 45 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 47 Research Design 47 Participants 49 Human Subjects Consideration 52 Instrumentation 52 District Records 52 Diet Quality Survey 53 Perceived Discrimination Inventory 54 Student Interviews 55 Procedures 56 Data Analysis 58 vii CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS 59 District And Survey Data 59 Research Question 1 60 Research Question 2 61 Research Question 3 63 Research Question 4 64 Research Question 5 68 Interview Data 69 Theme 1: Some Test Content on the CAHSEE Had Not 70 Been Taught Theme 2: Students Thought They Could Have Been Better 70 Prepared Theme 3: Hearing Positive Comments About My Race or 71 Gender Prior to Taking the CAHSEE Would Have Improved My Performance CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, LIMITATIONS, DISCUSSION, AND 73 IMPLICATIONS Summary of Study 73 Purpose of study 74 Research Questions 75 Methodology 76 Major Findings 77 Limitations 78 Discussion of Findings 78 Implications for Research 82 Implications for Practice 83 Summary 84 REFERENCES 85 APPENDIXES APPENDIX A Superintendent’s Letter 90 APPENDIX B Student Informed Consent 92 APPENDIX C Parental consent for Research Participation 97 APPENDIX D Researcher Modified Diet Quality Inventory 102 APPENDIX E Perceived Discrimination Inventory 105 APPENDIX F Student Interview Questions 108 viii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Variables With the Largest Effect on Passing the MCAS 37 Table 2: SES Means, Standard Deviations (SD), and Sample Size (N) for 60 Students Who Passed and Failed the CAHSEE in 2008-2009 Table 3: 2007-2008 CST-ELA Means, Standard Deviations (SD), and 62 Sample Size (N) for Students Who Passed and Failed the CAHSEE-ELA in 2008-2009 Table 4: 2007-2008 CST-Math Means, Standard Deviations (SD), and 62 Sample Sizes (N) for Students Who Passed and Failed the CAHSEE-Math in 2008-2009 Table 5: Diet Quality Means, Standard Deviations (SD), and Sample Sizes 63 (N) for students Who Passed and Failed the CAHSEE-ELA in 2008-2009 Table 6: English Courses and Grades for Students Passing and Failing the 65 CAHSEE in 2008-2009 Table 7: Math Courses and Grades for Students Passing and Failing the 66 CAHSEE in 2008-2009 Table 8: Stereotype Threat Means, Standard Deviations (SD), and Sample 69 Sizes (N) for Students Who Passed and Failed the CAHSEE-ELA in 2008-2009 ix 1 CHAPTER 1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM There is currently a nationwide mandate in public education to determine if students can demonstrate what they are expected to know upon completion of high school. This national mandate is an attempt to ensure that students graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills needed to do well in a job, college, and other aspects of life (Center on Education Policy, 2005).
This mandate often manifests itself in the form of a ‗high stakes test‘ like a high school exit exam (HSEE). A high-stakes test is a standardized test directly linked to selection and/or certification requirements, thus making the consequences of passage or failure on the test much higher than normal testing and generating added importance to performance on the test (Amrein and Berliner, 2003). Typical high-stakes tests include the LSAT (determining admission to Law School), the GRE (determining admission to graduate school), the SAT (determining admission to college), and HSEE‘s (determining in part, graduation from high school). HSEEs are generally required per state law, and in almost all instances, students are allowed to take the test multiple times until they pass.
Most states have phased in their exit exams, allowing for adequate time to pass between the time they introduce the test and the time they begin withholding diplomas (Center on Education Policy, 2005). Additionally, most states have offered alternate assessments for English language learners and students with disabilities. Students who are most likely to fail HSEEs are those who do not pass on the first attempt and must retake the test. 2 Making HSEEs part of graduation requirements is not a new phenomenon.
In 1978, several states introduced standardized tests that students were required to pass in order to graduate (Jacob & Dee, 2009). Following a ―first wave‖ of HSEEs as a requirement for graduation in 2000, Congress passed No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2001. NCLB is legislation designed to make schools more accountable, and a diploma more meaningful. The vehicle for NCLB‘s initiative is often in the form of a HSEE.
So far, at least twenty states have implemented a HSEE, and five more states are planning to phase one in by the end of 2009 (Center on Education, 2004). Pierce (2005) estimated that HSEEs have impacted 7 in 10 public school students and 8 in 10 minority students by 2009. The HSEE passing rate for students varies from state to state. According to the Center on Educational Policy (July, 2002), the percentage of students who do not pass exit exams on their first attempt ranges from 9% - 69% in mathematics and ranges from 5% – 53% in English/language arts.
The pass rates for minority groups are far below state and national averages. African Americans and Hispanics are far less likely to pass on their initial attempt than Whites and Asian Americans (Center on Education Policy, 2002), and their overall pass rates are lower. Passing rates are also lower for poor students, students with disabilities, and English Language Learners (ELL) (Center on Education Policy, 2005).