2009 - Trust as a Mediator of the Relationships Between Poverty, Racial Composition, and Academic Achievement: Evidence from Michigan's Public Elementary Schools

Attribution: Goddard, Roger, Salloum, Serena, & Berbitsky, Dan
Researchers: Dan BerbitskyRoger GoddardSerena Salloum
University Affiliation: Texas A&M University; University of Michigan
Email: rgoddard@tamu.edu
Research Question:
Test the relationship btw trust and achievement / assess whether links btw academic achievement, SES, racial composition are mediated by trust levels
Published: 1
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Educational Administration Quarterly
Journal Entry: Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 292-311
Year: 2009
Findings:
  • Greater trust was associated with increased school achievement in mathematics and reading on state assessments used for accountability purposes.
  • Social trust reduces transaction costs and thus increases efficiency in the production of outcomes desired.
  • School SES, racial composition, and size were indirectly related to achievement through associations with trust.
  • Racial and economic disadvantage were not directly related to achievement after controlling for prior achievement and trust.
  • The negative relationship between school disadvantage and mathematics and reading achievement seems to be mediated by the level of trust in school.
  • Trust relations appear to mediate the relationships between school disadvantage and academic achievement.
Keywords: Academic AchievementElementary SchoolRacial CompositionSESTeachersRegions: MidwestMethodologies: QuantitativeResearch Designs: SurveyAnalysis Methods: Path Analysis Sampling Frame:All traditional public ES across Michigan
Sampling Types: RandomAnalysis Units: SchoolData Types: Quantitative-Cross Sectional
Data Description:
  • Sample of eligible public schools with 4th and 5th classrooms using the Michigan Department of Education 2003-2004 “head count” file.
  • 130 school were contacted and 80 schools completed the survey (62%).
  • IV: Faculty trust (114-item scale), school SES (proportion reduced-price lunch), school racial composition (proportion students of color / proportion free) , geographic location, size, school level achievement (proportion of students passing the 4th grade mathematics and readings assessments 1 year earlier).
  • DV: Proportion of students passing the 5th grade mathematics and readings assessments.
  • Two models
  • 1st model predicting trust and then model predicting math and reading achievement.
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:
Archives: K-12 Integration, Desegregation, and Segregation Abstracts