Exploring the Effectiveness of Milestone Tests in Enhancing English Language Arts Learning for Third-Grade Students in Georgia’s Rural School Districts

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding Support and Success for Rural Children (Table 9)

Abstract

This study compares the reading performance of 3rd grade students in Georgia rural and non-rural districts in 2014-2019. Specifically, we examined the effects of time, school location, their interaction and district level demographic characteristics (i.e., mobility, SES, English proficiency and per pupil expenditure) on students' reading performance as measured by the standardized test, Georgia Milestone ELA. We found that both district types showed significant improvement regarding the percentage of students identified as developing, proficient and distinguished learners over time. However, location was emerged as a significant variable on the highest performance level, with non-rural districts having a higher percentage of distinguished learners. The implications of the findings are discussed in the context of reading education in Georgia rural school districts.

Authors

• Zhuoying Wang, University of Texas at Austin

• Shifang Tang, East Texas A&M University

• David Daniel Jimenez, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi

• Lei Zhang, East Texas A&M University