The purpose of this study is to examine whether Olympiad participation can develop problem-solving skills in mathematically-gifted learners from disadvantaged schools. My methodological approach was QUAN→Qual, using a quasi-experimental design with a non-equivalent comparison group. I chose two schools from the same disadvantaged area, and identified the top 50 Grade 7 learners in each school by mathematics marks. The study consisted of a pre-test, three mathematics sessions and a post-test. The Study Orientation in Mathematics Questionnaire (SOM) (Maree, Prinsloo, & Claassen, 2011) was used as the pre- and post-test, and a focus group explored the learners’ experience of the SOM. In the mathematics sessions, the intervention group worked through past papers of the SA Mathematics Challenge (South African Mathematics Foundation, 2018), and the alternative intervention group completed worksheets from a Department of Basic Education workbook. My study revealed a positive relationship between success in traditional Mathematics and Study Attitude, Study Habits and overall Study Orientation, and an interaction between disadvantage and success in Mathematics. Participants were less disadvantaged than their surroundings would indicate, and had higher Mathematics anxiety than expected for their achievement level. The intervention did not increase problem-solving behaviour and both the quantitative and qualitative findings showed that the participants found the Olympiad type questions unfamiliar and difficult. This unfamiliarity is indicative of the limited enrichment opportunities for mathematically-gifted learners in disadvantaged areas of South Africa. Greater experience of Mathematics Olympiads is suggested to help mathematically-gifted disadvantaged learners live up to their problem-solving potential. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Educational Psychology / MEd (LSGC) / Unrestricted

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine race, gender and language concordance in terms of importance to primary care. Design/methodology/approach - The 2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component (MEPS) was used. Four distinguishing primary care attributes and selected measures were operationalized primarily from a sample subset that identified a usual source of care (USC): accessibility to USC; interface between primary care and specialist services; treatment decisions; and preventive services received from the USC. Bivariate and multivariate results are reported. Findings - Adjusting for covariates, the following items remained statistically significant: race -choosing primary care physician as USC, USC having office hours, and going to USC for new health problems; gender - choosing primary care physician as USC and USC having office hours; and language - lack of difficulty contacting the USC after hours. However, these items appear to be isolated cases rather than indicators that concordance plays a key role in determining primary care quality. Language barriers/communication issues are the only areas where improvement appears warranted, Research limitations/implications - While the study has strong accessibility and interpersonal relationship measures, service coordination and comprehensiveness indicators are limited. The analyses' cross-sectional nature also poses a problem in drawing causal relationships and conclusive findings. Finally, sample size limitations preclude stratified analyses across racial/ethnic groups, an important consideration as the relationships between concordance and quality may vary across groups. Practical implications - This study indicates that more research is needed in this area to determine future resource allocation and policy direction. Originality/value - The unique contribution of the study is to suggest that race and gender concordance may not accurately predict primary health care quality.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Several studies concur that children from a disadvantaged background are as prepared for formal schooling, compared to their advantaged peers who have access to attend good quality pre-schools. This is particularly true regarding the literature aimed at understanding the challenges that impede school readiness of Foundation Phase learners and the consequences of poor school readiness on learner’s school performance. The overall aim of the study was to explore Foundation Phase teachers’ experiences and perceptions of the challenges that impede school readiness.

Research shows a math achievement gap for at-risk and economically-disadvantaged students in the United States. To address this issue, a Texas school district implemented a 90-minute math block-scheduling program with 8th grade students. Shaped by the academic learning time and social justice theories, the purpose of this quantitative program evaluation was to determine if students in 3 key subgroups (low performing, low performing and at-risk, and low performing and economically-disadvantaged) who participated on the 90-minute block-schedule performed significantly better on the math state standardized assessment than did students in the same subgroups who remained on the traditional schedule. This retrospective causal-comparative design compared existing scores from the 2013 Math State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) of 109 8th grade students (n = 49 block-schedule; n = 60 traditional schedule) for each of the 3 key subgroups. Mann-Whitney U tests indicated no significant differences in Math STAAR scores for the 90-minute block-schedule groups versus the traditional schedule groups for any of the 3 key subgroups studied. Results suggest the 90-minute block-scheduling program was not effective in producing better math assessment scores compared to the traditional schedule for these students. Findings were presented to district decision makers in an evaluation report, which may motivate district stakeholders to reevaluate current educational practices and funding allocations to improve math achievement of low performing students and produce positive social change.

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of socioeconomic status on academic achievement as measured by the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program Achievement Test and the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program Writing Assessment. The population consisted of 8th grade students enrolled in 4 elementary schools in a rural school system in Tennessee. Data were analyzed for the population of the 2006-2007 academic school year. A 2-way analysis of variance model was used to compare the means among the schools, the means between economically disadvantaged students and those who were not economically disadvantaged, and whether there was a significant school by socioeconomic status interaction. The independent variables were the schools ( School A, B, C, D) and the socioeconomic status of the students (those who qualified for free or reduced price meals and those who did not qualify for free or reduced price meals). The 5 dependent variables in the study were the number of items students answered correctly on the math, language arts, science, and social studies portions of the test and the holistic writing test scores. The quantitative findings revealed the F test for the school by socioeconomic status interaction term was not significant in all 5 research questions. The mean score of economically disadvantaged students was lower than noneconomically disadvantaged students in math, language arts, social studies, and science. Results indicated no difference in the mean writing scores between students who were economically disadvantaged and students who were not. When the main effect of school was significant, the Bonferroni post hoc multiple pairwise comparisons test was used to determine which pair of school means was different. The main effect of school was significant in math, social studies, science, and writing. There were no significant differences in the mean number of language arts items answered correctly among the schools.

The purpose of this study was to determine if socioeconomic status for the ethnic groups of white, black, Hispanic, and Asian is a significant indicator of mathematical performance and student participation in higher level courses. The SOL test scores of all high school mathematics students in Virginia for the 2005-2006 school year, their ethnic group membership, and their economically disadvantaged classification were as used to determine if such an association exists. Data provided by the Virginia Department of Education consisted of 113,786 Algebra I scores, 95,898 Geometry scores, and 68,944 Algebra II scores. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and a Two-way ANOVA were used to determine the variables that were highly significant indicators of mathematical performance and enrollment (p<.001).

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of school library access on student reading comprehension as measured by the Easy CBM universal screener test. The population consisted of 5th and 6th grade students enrolled in one intermediate school in an urban school system in East Tennessee. Data were analyzed for the population of the 2016-2017 academic school year. Specifically, this study considered the impact of school library access on students who qualify for free or reduced meals. A quantitative study was used to find correlations and differences in the reading comprehension data and library checkout data for fifth and sixth grade students who do or do not qualify for free or reduced meals in an urban East Tennessee school district. A quasi-experimental design was selected because preexisting data were collected on 1,003 fifth and sixth grade students enrolled and assessed during the 2016 – 2017 school year. The reading comprehension levels from the Easy CBM universal screener were collected for each of the students in the study. The number of class library visits for each student’s language arts teacher as well as the total checkout numbers for each student were also collected for each student in the study. The results of the study indicated a significant positive correlation in the number of checkouts and class library visits for all students. Results also indicated a significant positive correlation in the number of checkouts for students who qualify for free and reduced meals when these students are taken to the library as part of their language arts instructional block. Additional results of the study indicated a significant positive correlation between the number of books checked out and reading comprehension scores when all students are considered. There was significant difference in the number of books checked out by students who did not qualify for free or reduced meals, with those students checking out approximately one more book than students who do qualify for free or reduced meals. Finally, results of the study indicate a significant difference in reading comprehension scores for student who students who do not qualify for free or reduced meals and students who do qualify. Students who do not qualify for free or reduced meals scored significantly higher than students who do qualify.

Heterogeneity in the school education quality plays an important role for those who want to pursue a bachelor's degree in Peru since access to higher education is highly correlated with socioeconomic status. In that sense, an intervention for disadvantaged students took place for the first time in 2022 and was constrained to the assessment of a scholarship called “Beca 18”, the biggest scholarship that the public institution called PRONABEC addresses every year since 2012. The intervention included additional tools for a group of applicants: (i) full-time online classes for 2 to 4 months; (ii) an electronic device with an internet connection; and (iii) the admission exam payment fully covered up to 2 times. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention in increasing the likelihood of the treated to access higher education through the 2022 “Beca 18” scholarship process. As the treatment was not randomly assigned, a control group was estimated using the Propensity Score Matching methodology based on individual characteristics. Results showed that there is no statistically significant effect of the intervention in the treated applicants and invite to re-evaluate its design and implementation.

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