like this article does, it might be helpful to refer to students with disabilities as SWDs

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Hypotheses:
- The size of the achievement gap depends on the specific type of disability 
- The achievement gap will be larger in secondary school 
- The achievement gap will be smaller after the no child left behind act 
- The achievement gap will be smaller in high stakes assessments 

Meta Analysis of the Reading Achievement Gap Between Students with and without disabilities

These variable are from the Variables names and Labels spreadsheet linked in Microsoft Teams:
- student's academic load 
- level of student's primary career (Undergraduate, Graduate, Graduate-Professional, - - Academic Outreach)
- cumulative GPA at end of term
- GPA for the term
- entry type to a specific academic program (continuing; freshmen; transfer)
- estimated gross family income
- the maximum education level of student's parents
- Self-identified race
- student's citizen status 
- gender
- international student
- English language learner level
- first degree earned
- academic level of student's progression toward a degree at the end of a term
- First generation student
- Student change in majors
- how big is students social group
- Is student bilingual
- time it takes to graduate
- student engagement

Potential Achievement Gap Variables to Analyze

Gilmour, A. F., Fuchs, D., & Wehby, J. H. (2019). Are students with disabilities accessing the curriculum? A meta-analysis of the reading achievement gap between students with and without disabilities. Exceptional Children, 85(3), 329-346.

Are students with disabilities accessing the curriculum? A meta-analysis of the reading achievement gap between students with and without disabilities.

- ”access to grade-level curriculum and is measured by students’ academic progress”
- students only have "access" if they are improving in the curriculum

Definition of Educational Access

- location -PL 94-142 gave SWDs the opportunity to have extra help in the form of an IEP (individualized education program)-”identification for services and the physical locations where SWDs were presumably educated”
- Participation in assessments-reauthorization as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 (IDEA)of  the PL 94-142 ensured that students who were previously excluded from having to take standardized tests are now able and encouraged to participate in statewide exams 
- Outcomes-with the no child left behind act, schools had to look at standardized test data in groups (race, economic status, disability, etc). If they wanted to maintain federal funding, 95% of students in each category had to take the standardized tests and work on closing the achievement gap
- The gap between SWDs and other students shows if the students are accessing the curriculum 


Educational Access in federal policy

- Scores on reading tests (in a study, SWDs scored 1.39 SD below the normal test score)
- The proportion of students who score above a specific point, indicating proficiency

different ways to measure the disability achievement gap

- Analyzing a proficiency gap-only represents the number of students who complete a specific criterion-this is influenced by where the proficiency point is placed 
- SWDs have been placed into one category despite their differing disabilities because there aren’t that many SWDs to study-perhaps students with SLI (speech language impairments) are higher performing and will drive the average up 
- Reading gap could be invalid because the normative sample could not represent students in a traditionally low-scoring school district 
- Looking at the disability gap in terms of reading tests done specifically for research might have limited generalizability 
- Different studies examine in it in different ways and are influenced by the demographics of the sample, the specifics of the assessments, and if the assessments held anyone accountable 

limitations of the disability achievement gap

requirements for inclusion in the meta-analysis:
- Study must include students with an IEP or with a specific disability that is outlined in IDEA 
- Studies includes a comparison group 
- The data was collected from 1997 to 2016 
- Sample included students from kindergarten to 12th grade 
- The studies looked at reading comprehension 
- Coded the sample by looking at the year, type of disability, age of the children, level of data (statewide, nationwide, etc), way disability was established and the specifics of students who were excluded from the study 
- Coded the assessments baked on name, the constructs they tested, if they were administered in a group or individually, if the task was high stakes, type of questions, if retests were allowed and if accommodations were allocated 
- Performed moderator and sensitivity analyses 

Search criteria for the SWD meta-analysis study

- On average, the reading achievement gap is 1.17 standard deviations-SWDs performed more poorly than their peers 
- The average gap is 3.3 years of reading growth 
- Unable to do a meta-analysis by specific disability category because there wasn’t enough data 
- Students with learning disabilities performed 1.44 SDs (approximately 4 years) below other students in reading 
- The reading gap with low-incidence disabilities is a little more than LD, with approximately 4.3 years 
- The overall gap was the smallest (0.62 SDs or 1.7 years) when all of the disabilities were grouped together 
- Only statistically significant gap size-students with high incidence disabilities and other students and all disabilities versus other students 
- No statistically significant difference depending on the school level (elementary versus secondary)
- No statistically significant difference based on whether it was conducted before or after the no child left behind act 
- No statistically significant difference based on if the test was high or low stakes 

Results for the SWD meta-analysis study

- A national study found that 60% of 4th-8th grade students without disabilities are even performing below the acceptable level and therefore, SWDs are performing even worse 
- The gap might be able to be closed if they are provided personalized instruction that is intense in nature but it might not be enough 
- Since the achievement gap did not change based on school level, analysis could potentially not reflect SWDs who drop out of school 
- Policy improvements for SWDs-states can increase the amount of useful data that they provide to help provide more accurate accounts of the achievement gap-In instances where retests are allowed, states should report the students’ first test score and perhaps consider averaging them 

Discussion-SWD meta-analysis study

https://umich.sharepoint.com/:x:/s/1Cademy/EW-m2cO2UO1Hj-cOozxbXU0BQFhSEjSXqT5wTu0JUQtD0Q?email=1Cademy%40umich.onmicrosoft.com&e=xUdkXe

Variables Names and Labels Spreadsheet

After summarizing "Closing the Social Class Achievement Gap", it seems that the achievement gap seen between first generation and continuing generation students (education level of students parents) is notable and would be a good variable to include in our IRB proposal. 
-  This paper compares students with at least one parent with a 4 year degree (continuing generation) vs no parents with a 4 year degree (first generation), but we discussed that it would be interesting to also look into literature regarding students with parents that have some education but not a 4 year degree (such as an associates degree). 

Education level of student's parents

- STDNT_MJR_CHNGE to indicate if the student has had a major change

I recommended this variable because If a student has had a major change or many major changes, then the student might feel discouraged and might perform more poorly than if they had not changed their major.



Suggested Variable: STDNT_MJR_CHNGE

- STDNT_SES to indicate the socioeconomic status of the student

The SES of a student can impact their motivation, procrastination, and achievement because they could be lacking resources or other sources that encourage success.

Suggested Variable: STDNT_SES

- STDNT_CLASS_NMBR to indicate how many classes the student is taking in a semester
If a student is taking less than 4 classes in a semester, then they might be more motivated to complete their work and less inclined to procrastinate. However, if a student is taking more than 4 classes in a semester, then they might be more stressed, and this could impact their achievement, motivation, and procrastination.

Suggested Variable: STDNT_CLASS_NMBR

- STDNT_FRST_GEN indicating whether or not the student is a first-generation student

This variable could prove important to the study because it could impact motivation, procrastination, and achievement. If a student is a first-generation student, then they might feel that the bar is set very low or high for them, which can impact motivation and achievement.

Suggested Variable: STDNT_FRST_GEN

- STDNT_SOCIAL_GRP to indicate the size of the students' social group

The size of a student's social group can also impact motivation, procrastination, and achievement because students with a smaller social group could be lacking external motivation and/or help from their peers.

Suggested Variable: STDNT_SOCIAL_GRP

- STDNT_BILINGUAL to indicate if the student is bilingual

If a student is bilingual, their motivation, procrastination, and study habits might be different from that of a student speaking only one language.

Suggested Variable: STDNT_BILINGUAL

Language:
- Variable: English Second Language (ESL)? (proxy for do the parents speak predominantly english at home) - STDNT_NTV_ENG_SPKR_IN D 

Ethnicity/Race:
- Suggestion: We should not do not white and non-white, rather we should separate out Latinx, Black, White, Asian and other races as much as possible

Education:
- Variable: It is important to look at parents education since some of the other variables effects may actually be due to parents education. - PRNT_MAX_ED_LVL_CD

Socioeconomic status:
- Variable: It is important to look at socioeconomic status since some of the other variables effects may actually be due to socioeconomic qualities. - EST_GROSS_FAM_INC_CD

Summer slump:
- Insight: What can the summer slump tell us about higher-level education and how COVID may have affected it?

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