An examination of eighth and twelfth grade students' mathematics achievement in relation to school locale, county location, looping status, SES, grade and class size, and access to upper-level mathematics courses in Tennessee

The purpose of this study was two-fold. First, this study was conducted to examine the status of mathematics achievement in rural schools in Tennessee. The second purpose of this study was to understand the presence and effects of the educational practice of looping in terms of secondary level mathematics. In order to thoroughly investigate these topics, other potentially confounding variables were examined for their effects on students' mathematics achievement. Five instruments were used to examine the mathematics achievement of eighth and twelfth grade students from Tennessee during the 2001-2002 school year. The Algebra 1 Gateway Test and the Mathematics Section of the TCAP Achievement Test were used for eighth grade students. The ACT Mathematics Test and two surveys developed by the researcher were used for the twelfth grade students. One survey was sent to the Mathematics Department Chairperson at a school, and the other survey was sent to students enrolled in mathematics courses above Geometry and Algebra 2 in three rural Appalachian counties. This study was divided into four parts. Part One investigated the two instruments for eighth grade students mathematics achievement. Part Two investigated the ACT Mathematics Test for twelfth grade students. Part Three examined the Mathematics Department Chairperson survey. Part Four examined the student surveys. School means were used to examine the mathematics achievement of eighth and twelfth grade students. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The findings indicated significant differences between rural and nonrural students on the Mathematics Section of the TCAP Achievement Test with rural schools outperforming nonrural schools (p = .001 ). Moreover, significant differences were found between Appalachian and non-Appalachian counties on this test with Appalachian schools outperforming non-Appalachian schools (p < .001 ). The locale-county interaction on the ACT Mathematics Test was significantly different. Rural Appalachian schools, rural non-Appalachian schools, and nonrural Appalachian schools had higher ACT Mathematics Test school means than nonrural non-Appalachian schools (p = .023, p = .007, and p = .002, respectively). Although intentional looping does not occur in Tennessee high schools, unintentional looping was present. Looping was found in both rural and nonrural schools and Appalachian and non-Appalachian counties in Tennessee. The greatest percentage of looping that was reported occurred in rural Appalachia (62%). Looping and ACT Mathematics Test school means were not significantly related in this study (p = .072). Other potentially confounding variables that were examined included Socio-Economic Status, twelfth and eighth grade class size, number of mathematics courses offered at a school, faculty size, and average mathematics class. A negative relationship with ACT Mathematics Test school means was found with Socio-Economic Status (r =-.625, p < .001) while positive relationships were found between ACT Mathematics Test school means and the other variables.