Improvement and closing the achievement gap report 2003-2004 include Essay

Strong parental involvement Community and church support Various reform models aligned to distinguish curriculum Dedicated teachers Structured teaching Thinking maps Stable staff Comprehensive systems to monitor schoolchild progress Aligned curriculum, assessment, and instruction Peer coaches instructional time that is increased (2004) As the reader will notice, the majority of these strategies incorporate relationships between the school and outside sources for example parental and community involvement.These strategies were created by schools in Mississippi demonstrating high student achievement. Finally, the researcher will also examine the effects of global resources, that is, per pupil expenditure (PPE), on the impact of performance. In their round off of production function research, Verstegen and King cite Hedges, Laine, and Greenwalds assertion (1994) that Global resource variables such as PPE, show positive, strong, and consistent relations with achievement (19 95, 57-58).However, separate studies fail to yield significant results (Chubb and Moe 1990 Okpala 2002). Tajalli, in his examination of the wealth equalization or Robin Hood program in Texas, found that the transfer of nearly $3. 4 billion of dollars to poor school districts did not strike a significant impact on the improvement of performance in these districts (Tajalli, 2003). It may be that expenditures in general have an indirect effect that is not apparent when using PPE as a direct measure.In his study of school pass Wenglinsky (1997) develops a path in which he concludes a schools economic resources are associated with academic achievement. He posits that per-pupil expenditures on instruction and central social function administration are positively related to class size, i. e. , more spending on smaller classes. Smaller teacher/student ratios contribute to a viscid school environment, which enhances achievement. Chapter Three Description of MethodologyThis study is a c omparative analysis of eight Mississippi elementary schools from seven school districts dickens K-2, two K-3 and four K-5. Factors analyzed were the students to teacher ratio (FTE), socioeconomic status (SES), and student ethnicity, and comparison MCT scores. At first a total of twenty schools were randomly elect from contrastive districts. The researcher then chose eight schools of conflicting SES percentages. It is a comparative study using the case analysis method since it attempts to compare school factors influencing student performance.Using the Mississippi Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) data, the researcher will examine these variables to determine the elements that can impact success or mischance of public school campuses. The measure of performance is the standardized test given in 2005 to students in Mississippi public schools, the MCT. The researcher focused the study on Mississippi elementary schools that are predominantly populated by students who come f rom economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The socioeconomic status was based on the percentage of students entitled for free or reduced-price lunches.The teaching theory used as a basis for this study is the Measurement Theory, this theory represents teaching and achievement based on standardized tests and results. Validity and Reliability The MCT scores are provided by the Mississippi Department of Education, and the demographics of each school were provided by the NCES found on the greatschools. com database. Twenty schools were elect by random then eight were chosen for analysis based on conflicting SES factors in order to get realistic insight as to the influence of student success factors on each school size.This study has limitations due to the fact that it is based on MCT scores which can be deceiving. These tests have been criticized by researchers because they do not portray a students overall understanding of a subject and do not allow for different learning abilities a nd styles. It is because of this limitation that further study should be conducted on the achievement levels of students based on different approaches to classroom learning.