Middle school mathematics: Relationships among socioeconomic status, minority status, gender, and achievement

This is a causal-comparative study of the influences of socioeconomic status, minority status, and gender on mathematics achievement in rural Maryland. State test scores in mathematics for the years 2004-2006 were used to measure the achievement of 1,927 students, grades five through eight. The independent variables were socioeconomic status, minority status, and gender. The dependent variables used were overall scale scores and subtest scores in algebra, patterns, and functions; geometry and measurement; statistics and probability; number and relationships computation; and processes of mathematics. A bivariate correlation was used to determine that state test scores were a reliable measure of mathematics achievement. Descriptive statistics were used to describe differences in mean scores. Analysis-of-variance (ANOVA) tests, with post-hoc Bonferroni tests were used to determine the significance of differences and interaction effects.;Analysis of the data revealed large achievement gaps between subgroups, in overall scores, in all grades combined, for individual subtests, at all grade levels. High socioeconomic status students outperformed low socioeconomic status students in overall scores, all grades combined, in subtests overall, but not in all subtests at individual grade levels. The largest subtest gaps were in number relationships computation. The greatest gaps in achievement were recorded in the seventh grade, the least gaps in the sixth grade. Minority status was a significant factor in overall scores, for all grades combined, and in overall subtest scores. There were significant differences between Caucasian and African American students' scores in all subtests at every grade level, but not between Caucasian and Latino subtest scores. The greatest subtest gap between Caucasians and African Americans was in number relationships computation; between Caucasians and Latinos, in statistics and probability; and between Latinos and African Americans, in number relationships computation. The largest gaps were recorded at the seventh grade level; the least gaps at sixth grade. Gender was not a significant factor in achievement, expect in processes of mathematics. Males' scores were generally higher than females in geometry and measurement. Lower scores were recorded for females in geometry and measurement and in number relationships computation, for males in processes of mathematics.