A Comparison of QEIA and Non-QEIA Schools: Implications of Class Size Reduction

The purpose of this research study is to compare student achievement changes between matched QEIA and non-QEIA schools in an effort to infer effects of the most significant feature of QEIA funding, class size reduction. The study addressed the critical question--are there demonstrated, significant differences in student achievement gains between schools with similar demographics? Does participation in a program that reduces class size also make significant differences in achievement gains? Do school districts have data to recommend continuation of this expensive intervention? ANOVA methodology was used to test the research hypothesis. QEIA schools were matched using CDE's Similar School Rank with non-QEIA schools. California API scores prior to starting participation in QEIA (2006) and after participation (2010) were analyzed for percentage of gain and loss over the years of implementation of CSR. The author's assumption is that class size was the QEIA Act's most significant and uniform factor and that differences between the groups can be, at least, partially, if not primarily, due to CSR. Fifteen t-tests at three grade levels (elementary, middle, and high school) and two subgroups for Hispanic and ELL students were conducted. Because data for the African-American (Black) and White subgroups was limited, analysis on these two subgroups was not conducted. Findings suggest the following: QEIA schools started with a lower average and range of API scores than their non-QEIA matches. Four years later, QEIA elementary schools with reduced class size gained an average of 13.75 additional school-wide API points over their non-QEIA school matches. Hispanic students in QEIA schools improved an average of 13 additional points, while the ELL subgroup showed 20 additional points gained over their non-QEIA school matches. QEIA middle schools averaged 8 additional API points gained over the four years. At the high school level, non-QEIA schools outperformed matched QEIA schools by an 8.65 point gain. In conclusion, while QEIA schools, except for those at the high school level, did show greater increases in API scores, there is not a significant positive increase and substantial improvement over their non-QEIA school matches. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]