Poverty, school size and charter designation as predictors of school achievement on the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) in 2001 and 2004

Abstract

The purpose of this ex-post-facto research study was to investigate the relationship of poverty, school size and charter designation to middle school scores on the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) in 2001 and 2004. A second purpose was to investigate whether there was a change in middle school CSAP achievement between 2001 and 2004. The study also determined if there was an association between the 2001 and 2004 Colorado middle school CSAP results. Finally, the study investigated whether changes from 2001 to 2004 in individual school's CSAP performance could be predicted from the school characteristics of poverty, school size, and charter designation. The researcher used the Overall Academic Performance Index (OAPI) score based on school CSAP performance for (N=357) Colorado middle schools in 2001 and 2004. The researcher also utilized the percent of students on free and reduced meals (FARM) as a proxy for poverty. The same schools were studied in both 2001 and 2004. The results of this study found a greater than typical effect size relationship between high poverty and low achievement. Charter school designation alone indicated a small to medium positive effect, and school size only in combination with poverty showed a small negative effect. Charter designation in combination with poverty in 2004 showed a small negative effect. This research study found no correlation between school change scores and school poverty, school size or designation as a charter school. While schools generally improved their OAPI score from 2001 to 2004, individual school scores were highly correlated between the two years studied. In conclusion, results from this study call into question the current use of the CSAP as a state-wide high-stake testing system intended to hold schools accountable for student achievement because of the much greater than typical negative effect of poverty on student achievement. Recommendations for improving the accountability model to include test results that would provide a clearer picture of student achievement are recommended.