| Language Arts is one of the most important subjects for students to learn. Encompassing reading, writing, and comprehension, skills learned through Language Arts instruction influence student ability to reach levels of academic achievement in all subjects. Additionally, Language Arts skills reach far past the classroom and into the workplace. In response to low standardized test scores in the area of Language Arts, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing instituted a district-wide implementation of the Open Court Language Arts curriculum for students in the Los Angele Unified School District. The purpose of this time-series quasi-experimental study was to investigate the manner in which the Open Court Language Arts curriculum influenced standardized test scores in the Los Angele Unified School District's students as measured by the STAR-California Standards Test. The population of the study included students in grades 2--5 attending 555 elementary schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. A regression analysis was conducted for students in grade 2, grade 3, grade 4, and grade 5 comparing the mean test scores from 2002--2003, 2004--2005, and 2009--2010. Results of the analyses failed to reject the null hypotheses confirming the Open Court Language Arts curriculum did not influence student standardized test scores. |
