Despite faster growth, students with low initial proficiency remained well below higher-proficiency peers after two school years, conforming to a pattern of stable differences in both reading and math¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2020 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? After one and two years of instruction, reading score differences between initial-quartile groups indicated a predominant pattern of stable differences maintaining achievement gaps. → Scammacca Nancy 2020 q3 i? In math, low-initial-achievement students remained well below classmates with higher initial achievement despite faster growth. → Scammacca Nancy 2020 (2)

Evidence¶

Scammacca Nancy 2020¶

Scammacca Nancy, Fall Anna-Mária, Capin Philip, Roberts Greg, Swanson Elizabeth (2020). Examining Factors Affecting Reading and Math Growth and Achievement Gaps in Grades 1–5: A Cohort-Sequential Longitudinal Approach. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000400

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Authors' interpretation of the cohort-sequential LGC results and Figure 3 trajectories: Quartile 1 students' end-of-Year-1 mean reading scores were below the beginning-of-year means of Quartile 4 students, and gaps worsened for older students.

"the magnitude of the differences in reading scores between groups after one and two years of instruction suggested the predominant pattern was one of stable differences that maintained achievement gaps over time."

Scammacca Nancy 2020 (2)¶

Scammacca Nancy, Fall Anna-Mária, Capin Philip, Roberts Greg, Swanson Elizabeth (2020). Examining Factors Affecting Reading and Math Growth and Achievement Gaps in Grades 1–5: A Cohort-Sequential Longitudinal Approach. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000400

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Math trajectories (Figure 4) showed Quartile 1 students in all grades ended Year 1 below Quartile 4 students' beginning-of-year scores, and after two years Quartile 1 students still scored below Quartile 4 students after one year.

"As with reading, the pattern of growth in math showed that students with low initial achievement remained well below their classmates with higher initial achievement despite having faster rates of growth."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Initial proficiency in one domain positively predicted growth in the other domain: math quartile predicted reading slope and reading quartile predicted math slope — reports the opposite
• Students with low initial reading and math proficiency grew faster over two school years than students with higher initial proficiency, with the inverse relation stronger in math than reading — reports the opposite
• Despite faster early math growth, dual language students did not learn more than their peers in the long run and the gap to the national average was not closing — related