DIFFERENCES IN THE READING PERFORMANCE OF TEXAS GRADE 4 STUDENTS AS A FUNCTION OF THEIR ECONOMIC STATUS, GENDER, AND ETHNICITY/RACE: A MULTIYEAR, STATEWIDE INVESTIGATION

The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to examine the extent to which economic status, gender, and ethnic/racial differences were present in the reading achievement of Texas Grade 4 students. In the first article, the extent to which economic status (i.e., Not Poor, Moderately Poor, and Very Poor) is related to the reading achievement of Texas Grade 4 students was examined. In the second article, the degree to which gender differences might exist in the reading performance of Texas Grade 4 students was addressed. In the third study, the extent to which ethnic/racial (i.e., Asian, White, Hispanic, Black) differences might be present in the reading performance of Texas Grade 4 students was determined. For each of these studies, archival data from the Texas Education Agency Public Education Information Management System were analyzed. An analysis of academic performance for the 2012-2013, 2013-2014, and 2014-2015 school years on the state-mandated reading assessments for Texas Grade 4 students was conducted to determine the degree to which trends were present in reading performance by economic status, between boys and girls, and among four different ethnic/racial groups.