Student Achievement Success

Running head: Student Achievement Success Student Achievement Success Johanna Billingsley English Composition II Mr. Randy Baker November 5, 2009 All students deserve the opportunity to be successful in school. Improving the academic learning of students in schools is a major concern of American education. Large amounts of resources are used each year to help close the achievement gap and level the playing field for students in our educational system. Without academic success, this country’s population will be ill equipped to fully participate in the workforce and society at-large. This creates terrifying implications for our democracy, economy, and future generations. The U.S Department of Education defines “student achievement” as a students’ success in an academic discipline, an exhibited level of competency on some type of standardized test, or grade point average (2004, p. 9). Researchers have studied the factors that are directly linked to student achievement in an ongoing effort to develop approaches for improved academic achievement of students and aid in school reform. These links are studied in depth in the book Politics, Markets, and American Schools, by John E. Chubb and Terry M. Moe. The results of this research found that student ability, school organization, and parental involvement are the most notable factors that contribute to student achievement. While the contributing factors work in tandem to promote student achievement, parent participation is the decisive influencing factor (1990, p.101). Chubb and Moe conclude that, “High performance schools spend nearly 20% more per pupil than low performance schools and have lower ratios of students to teachers. However, both high and low performance schools have about the same amounts of other resources, including same salaries for teachers and same number of enrollments” (1990, p. 99). Overall these changes indicate positive progress in reforming schools. However, student

References: Appalachia Educational Laboratory. (2005) Linking Student Achievement to School, Family, and Community Involvement. Charleston: Edvantia, 2005. Retrieved October 27, 2009 from http://www.edvantia.org/pdta/pdf/FamilyBrief.pdf Chubb, John E., and Terry M. Moe. (1990) Politics, Markets, and America 's Schools. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institute.Retrieved October 22, 2009 from http://books.google.com/books?id=mplqg6qzOGwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_sumsumm_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false Cotton, K., & Wikelund, K. R. (1989). Parent involvement in education. Retrieved October 22< 2009 from http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/3/cu6/html Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. Austin, TX: National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Retrieved October 22, 2009 from http://www.sedl.org/connections/resources/evidence.pdf Kells, Richard. (1993). Principals ' perceptions of factors affecting student achievement. Questia, 113. Retrieved October 29, 2009 from http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5000224069 North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL). (1996) Critical Issue: Supporting Ways Parents and Families Can Become Involved in Schools. Retrieved October 27, 2009 from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/famncomm/pa100.htm U.S. Department of Education. (2004). Parental involvement: Title I, Part A, non-regulatory guidance. Retrieved October 31, 2009, from http://www.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/parentinvguid.doc