Ethnic/Racial Differences in Reading College Readiness: A Texas Pre- and Post-Pandemic Analysis

Authors

Neil A. Laminack, Sam Houston State UniversityFollow
John R. Slate, Sam Houston State UniversityFollow
Janene W. Hemmen, Sam Houston State UniversityFollow

Short Title

Ethnic-racial Reading Pre- and Post-Pandemic Analysis

Keywords

Ethnicity/race, Grade Level Standards, Reading College Readiness, Texas

Abstract

In this statewide multiyear investigation, the extent to which differences were present on the STAAR English I End-of-Course exam for Texas high school students as a function of their ethnicity/race (i.e., Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White) for the 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2020-2021, 2021-2022, and 2022-2023 school years were examined. Archival data from the Public Education Information Management System were obtained for the two school years pre-pandemic (2017-2018 and 2018-2019) and the three years post-pandemic (2020-2021, 2021-2022, and 2022-2023). Across all five school years and on all three grade-level standards, Approaches, Meets, and Masters, Asian students met the standards at the highest percentage, followed by White, Hispanic, and Black students. Across all five school years and on all three grade-level standards Black students lagged closely behind, never more than five percentage points, Hispanic students. Hispanic students were the only student group to consistently increase their percentage of meeting the grade-level standard across all five school years on all three standards.

Recommended Citation

Laminack, Neil A.; Slate, John R.; and Hemmen, Janene W. (2025) "Ethnic/Racial Differences in Reading College Readiness: A Texas Pre- and Post-Pandemic Analysis," School Leadership Review: Vol. 20: Iss. 1, Article 5.
Available at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/slr/vol20/iss1/5