Fifth graders in an elementary school setting vs. fifth graders in a middle school setting: Achievement, attendance, discipline
Abstract
This study examined whether students who experience fifth grade in K-5 schools perform and behave differently than students who experience fifth grade in 5-8 school settings. Units of measures included student achievement, attendance, and disciplinary actions, while taking into consideration the variables of gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. This study concentrated on a highly diverse quadrant of the city and participants represented three elementary schools (K-5) and two middle schools (5-8) within the same cluster. After permission was granted from both the Tennessee State University Institutional Review Board and the Metropolitan Nashville Public School District, Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) scores and Chancery Student Management System data were accessed based on the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years. Four research questions were investigated and twelve null hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance. Independent samples t-tests, Multiple Analyses of Variances (MANOVA), and Multiple Analyses of Covariances (MANCOVAS) were used to compare school configuration to students' academic achievement, attendance rate and disciplinary rate and the interaction effects on school configuration, attendance, and disciplinary actions when using gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status as covariates. There were statistically significant differences among fifth grade students in the K-5 and 5-8 school configurations. Most of the null hypotheses were rejected indicating significant differences between the groups. These findings suggest that fifth grade students who experience fifth grade in 5-8 grade configurations are at greater risk than students who experience fifth grade in K-5 grade configuration. This is evident as the students from the K-5 configurations had significantly higher scores on all of the academic sub-tests of the TCAP and had fewer disciplinary actions. When gender, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity were used as covariates, the significant differences were still present. The only variable for which there was no significant difference was attendance rates.
Subject Area
Elementary education|Secondary education|Curriculum development
Recommended Citation
Natalyn Malone,
"Fifth graders in an elementary school setting vs. fifth graders in a middle school setting: Achievement, attendance, discipline"
(2008).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI3307312.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3307312