Degree Name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Program

Educational Leadership

Date of Award

5-2008

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Terrence A. Tollefson

Committee Members

Martha Coutinho, Louise L. MacKay, James H. Lampley

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if a difference in achievement test scores exists between students who attended preschool and those who did not as measured by standardized achievement test scores of students in the 3rd and 4th grades. The variables of grade level and gender were also considered. The population consisted of students who attended 4th and 5th grades during the 2007-2008 school year in the Greeneville City Schools. Data gathered were from Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program achievement test scores obtained from the 2006-2007 school year. Analysis of variance was used to identify any relationship between variables.

The investigation of the relationship between attendance in preschool and achievement test scores might assist educators in planning the implementation of future preschool programs within the public school setting. Although the information gleaned is specifically beneficial to Greeneville City Schools, other school systems seeking information on the relationship between attendance in preschool programs in relation to achievement test scores might find this study to be of importance.

Findings in this study did not show significance of preschool attendance within the Greeneville City Schools in relation to achievement test scores. Scale scores were tested in this model for both 3rd- and 4th-grade achievement scores. These scores consisted of language arts, math, science, and social studies. All areas tested were found to have no significance for (a) gender, (b) attendance in a preschool program, and (c) interaction between gender and attendance in a preschool program within the Greeneville City Schools.

Document Type

Dissertation - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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