The Achievement Gap and Large-Scale Evidence of the Importance of Reading and Writing Instruction for Minority Students in Social Studies Education

• In Event: 31.092 - Sheraton Roundtable Session Three - Grand Centre
  In Roundtable Session: 31.092-3 - Trends in Social Studies Teaching

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the addition of a writing component to a multiple-choice based U.S. history state assessment affects minority student achievement in comparison to white student achievement. The author incorporated a longitudinal data set and a difference-in-difference quasi-experimental research design and found that the addition of the writing component caused a significant difference in the percentage of minority students who scored proficient or advanced on the U.S. history assessment in comparison to white students. The findings suggest that underserved populations are in need of effective reading and writing instruction in social studies classrooms.

Author

• Jason Miller, University of Virginia