An examination of the relationship between socioeconomic status and reading ability conditioned on the variable of grade level in school

Author

John Markey Keenan

Date of Award

6-1987

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Major Professor

Theodare W. Hipple

Committee Members

Donald J. Dessart, George W. Harris, John R. Ray

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine if reading achievement scores were related to socioeconomic status. Further, this study considered the assertion that the relationship intensified in later grade levels. Reading Comprehension subtest scores from the Stanford Achievement Test were used to identify reading ability. Individual socioeconomic status was determined by the indi vidual's eligibility, or lack thereof, to participate in the free and reduced price meal program in their respective school system. The scores of fifteen hundred and fifty-one students (10% of the population) in grades two, five, and seven from the Alcoa City, Anderson County, Blount County, Knox County, Knoxville City, and Oak Ridge City School Systems were selected by the simple random of sampling. The population was stratified by school system, grade level and socioeconomic status to insure that representative samples were drawn from each subset of the population. Three analysis procedures were applied to the data at the Computing Center, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Differences between Reading Comprehension subtest mean scores on the Stanford Achievement Test of students in two socioeconomic strata were tested through a series of _t Tests. Point-Biserial Correlation Coefficients were computed and corresponding Correlation Coefficient Tests for their differences were then applied in order to test the relationships between the three grade levels. Results from these analyses revealed that subjects from the high socioeconomic group (Level I) scored significantly higher than those subjects from the low socioeconomic groups (Level II) at the .05 level of significance at each grade level tested. Relationships of scores and socioeconomic status between different grade levels were, however, not significant.

Recommended Citation

Keenan, John Markey, "An examination of the relationship between socioeconomic status and reading ability conditioned on the variable of grade level in school. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1987.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/12087