Date of Award

8-2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Executive Leadership

First Supervisor

Richard E. Maurer

Second Supervisor

Jennifer Schulman

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the efficacy of an alternative grade-retention program to increase student achievement with regard to New York State English Language Arts (NYS ELA) and Developmental Reading Program (DRP) student achievement. Within a quasi-experimental, pre-test, post-test design, archival data was analyzed to determine results utilizing ANOVA analysis. Results indicated that sixth grade students had a significantly larger increase in NYS ELA scores from pre-test to post-test as compared to seventh graders. Male students had statistically similar increases in NYS ELA scores from pre-test to post-test as compared to female students. Students of all three ethnicities, African American, Hispanic, and White, had statistically similar increases in NYS ELA scores from pre-test to post-test. The sixth grade students had statistically similar increases in DRP scores from pre-test to post-test as compared to seventh graders. Male students had statistically similar increases in DRP scores from pre-test to post-test as compared to female students. There were significant differences in students’ DRP scores from pre-test to post-test across the three ethnicities, that is, Hispanic students had the largest increase in DRP scores from pre-test to post-test, African America students had the second largest increase, and White students’ DRP scores increased the least.

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