Enhancing community well-being through partnerships in education
Researchers have documented achievement gaps between Native Hawaiian and non-Native Hawaiian students for almost 30 years, and despite initiatives aimed at reducing these gaps, disparities in test scores persist.
A new study released by the Pacific Regional Educational Laboratory (REL Pacific), Comparing the Achievement Patterns of Native Hawaiian and Non-Native Hawaiian Grade 8 Students in Reading and Math, explores some of the details underlying this continuing challenge.
To assess reading and math proficiency, the Hawai‘i Department of Education administers the standards-based Hawai‘i State Assessment (HSA) each spring to public school students in grades 3–8 and 10. Performance on the HSA is reported at four levels: well below proficiency, approaches proficiency, meets proficiency, and exceeds proficiency.
The REL Pacific study found that in each year from 2003/04–2008/09, grade 8 Native Hawaiian students had lower proficiency rates than other students in both reading and math. All students (both Native Hawaiian and non-Native Hawaiian) had higher overall proficiency rates in reading than in math each year.
On a positive note, both groups increased in proficiency in reading and in math across the six years of the study. Additionally, the achievement gap in reading between Native Hawaiians and non-Native Hawaiians decreased from 19.5 percentage points to 15.6 in 2004/05–2008/09. The achievement gap in math, however, fluctuated during that same period (from a high of 20.7 percentage points to a low of 14.4).
Native Hawaiian proficiency rates in reading rose 31.3 percentage points compared to 28.4 for non-Native Hawaiian students, while the Native Hawaiian proficiency rates in math rose 16.7 percentage points compared to 19.9 for non-Native Hawaiian students.
The researchers acknowledge the following limitations to the study: (1) the definition of Native Hawaiian is inclusive, including part-Native Hawaiians with multiple ancestries; (2) proficiency was measured with just one instrument, the HSA, and only in math and reading; (3) the study was descriptive and does not consider other possible mediating factors, such as socioeconomic status.
Future research is needed to determine why changes in achievement test scores have been greater at some proficiency levels than others, and whether educational interventions for Native Hawaiian students are affecting the achievement gap.
For More Information, Please Contact:
Ormond Hammond, PhD, Director, REL Pacific
hammondo@prel.org
(Posted Tuesday, December 13, 2011)