Date of Award

Summer 2014

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

EdD Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Department

Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Advisor

Christopher H. Tienken

Committee Member

Gerard Babo

Committee Member

Luke J. Stedrak

Keywords

School Day Length, HS Exit Exams, High Stakes Testing, Student Achievement, Student Variables, Teacher Variables, School Variables, NJ HSPA

Abstract

This study examined the strength and the direction of the relationship between the length of the school day and Grade 11, 2011 New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) scores found on the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE, 2012a) website. Student achievement scores on the Grade 11, 2011 HSPA in Language Arts and Mathematics were analyzed separately. Analyses were conducted using simultaneous regression and hierarchical multiple models. All student data explored in this study pertained to 98,218 first-time, Grade 11 students (NJDOE, 2011c) enrolled in 326 public high schools in districts designated by District Factor Groups A-J (NJDOE, 2012a) comprehensive high schools located in the state of New Jersey during the 2010-2011 academic school year. The results of the study revealed that using the length of the school day as an independent variable to predict the dependent variable of student 2011 NJ HSPA mathematics passing percentage accounted for 1.8 percent in the variance. For Language Arts, however, the length of the school day was found to have a non-statistically significant relationship with the original dependent variable (the HSPA passing percentage).

The sample was taken from the NJDOE, NJ School Report Card 2011 (NJDOE, 2012a) representative of a proportional random sample of the state's district composition. Recommendations for policy, practice, and future research were explored.

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