| This study assessed if there are significant differences in the academic achievement of Alabama's public school sixth grade students relative to the configuration of the schools they attend. Further, this study sought to determine if the differences varied with regard to the students' gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. The population for this study included 242 schools that were randomly selected from 636 schools housing sixth grade students within the state of Alabama. Descriptive and inferential statistics, (Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Bonferroni Multiple Comparison, and Kruskal-Wallis tests) were used to compare school configuration to students' academic achievement and the interaction effects on school configuration and student achievement when using gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status as independent variables. There were no statistically significant differences among students experiencing the sixth grade in the K through 6, 6 through 8, or K through 12 school settings. When gender, socio-economic, and ethnicity were used as additional independent variables, significant differences were found. These findings suggested that the differences among students' gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status placed students at a greater risk within varying configurations. This was evident as Whites, females, and non-poverty students performed at higher levels on the 2006--2007 ARMT and SAT 10. |
