In-School and Out-of-School Factors That Build Student Achievement

Factors That Contribute to Achievement

In the most comprehensive study I have conducted to date, researchers analyzed data gathered from 459 elementary school students, and their parents and teachers, in five Nashville schools. A student was included in the survey if (1) one of his or her parents responded to a parent questionnaire sent home from the school, and (2) the student completed a survey about his or her weekly time use. This sample consisted of 247 female and 212 male elementary students. Teachers of all 459 students completed a teacher survey (n=19). For analysis purposes, each teacher's responses were linked to the time-use data and the parent survey data for each of their specific students.

There were significant race/ethnicity and income differences among the student population. The majority of the students were White (57 percent). Blacks constituted 33 percent of the sample. The rest of the sample consisted of Asians, Latinos, and others (10 percent). For this study, student participation in a federally sponsored free or reduced-cost lunch program was used as an indicator of social class status. Eighteen percent of the White students were receiving free or reduced-price lunches. More than three times as many (58 percent) of the Black students were receiving free or reduced-price lunches at the school.

There were social class and race achievement test performance gaps in the sample. With regard to social class, twice as many "lower-achieving" students were receiving support from the federal school lunch program.¹ Forty-eight percent of the lower achievers were receiving free or reduced-price lunches at the school; 24 percent of the "high-achieving" students were receiving free or reduced-price lunches. Race disparities in achievement test scores also were apparent. The reading total median normal curve equivalency (NCE) score for the White students in the sample was 65.3, while it was 44.1 for the Black students. A total of 277 students (60 Black, 192 White, and 25 other) had test scores ranking them as high achievers, while 182 students (93 Black, 71 White, and 18 other) had scores in the lower-achievers category.

As a result of these racial variations in achievement, the Nashville data provide a rich opportunity to assess what factors may contribute to creating the achievement gap between higher- and lower-achieving students from different social classes and racial groups. The findings potentially have great utility in identifying practices (processes) that can impact the narrowing of the achievement gap. From this information, we can propose policies to address the educational needs of lower-achieving students, the majority of whom are lower-income and ethnic minority status (Black, Asian, Latino).

When this data set was analyzed, correlation and multiple regression analysis methods were used to explain variations in students' scores on standardized tests of reading. All scores were converted into standardized Z scores to conduct the analysis. The correlation analysis revealed profoundly higher relationships for instructional process factors (teacher estimate of student time-in-classroom learning, teacher perception of student capabilities, teacher-parent communication patterns, parental standards for student academic pursuits, and students' out-of-school time-use patterns) than for noninstructional factors such as family income, whether or not income is from government aid, and participation in a free-lunch program. In fact, the instructional process factors explained far more of the total variance in students' academic scores than family ethnicity, economic circumstances, and perceived safety level in the community of residence combined.

The results of the analysis revealed that about 51 percent of the variation in student test scores was accounted for by school process factors and family process factors. Exhibit 2 shows that once instructional process factors are taken into account, student ethnicity and parent socioeconomic status are nearly eliminated as impacts on student achievement. Indeed, beta scores on the family background factors (ethnicity and socioeconomic status) are negatively correlated with students' scores on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) test of reading, after taking into consideration the pertinent school process factors and out-of-school family and time-use factors. Similarly, beta scores on the community safety variable (as perceived by parents) independently contributed less than 10 percent to the variation in students' test scores in reading.

These findings, in combination with findings in the sections that follow, suggest that the factors that matter most for student achievement on standardized tests are teacher instructional actions; teacher expectations for students; students' total weekly out-of-school time in high-yield activities; activity quality; parental standards, beliefs, and expectations; and teacher-parent communication actions.