Curriculum-Based Assessment, Socio-Demographic and Educational Measures as Predictors of Mathematics FCAT: Implications for Emancipatory Inquiry

Abstract

AbstractUsing critical lenses, this study examined the predictive value added of curriculum-based assessment (CBA), with socio-demographic and educational variables on the mathematics portion of Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). Gender, race, socio-economic status, and exceptional student education (ESE) were compared in a de-identified post hoc dataset of (n=6,218) middle and high school students in single district. These variables predicted a substantial amount of variance ranging from 0.33 to 0.40, while the addition of a CBA predicted variance that ranged from 0.41 to 0.50, a difference of 0.07 to 0.15. The findings confirm what previous studies have shown, that overall females, Blacks and Hispanics, and ESE score lower than non-ESE students, Asians, and males; students on free and reduced lunch score lower than full-pay students. Lower achievement in particular racial groups should lead teachers to be mindful of the accessibility of contextualized mathematical concepts. The authors suggest how future studies, using an emancipatory research perspective, can examine the results from alternative interpretative lenses to question how their own and stakeholder’s positionality influences outcomes.