Background Research
Using the search engine, www.google.com, I searched to find a project relating to my study which compares the participation rate in math and English. In attempts of refining my results, I tried to search using somewhat statistical terms such as “observational study” and “mean.” In doing so, I eliminated many results that were not statistically sound. The first set of key words that I searched for was mean participation rate for math + mean participation rate for English. Because this search was somewhat specific, the results yielded were not as helpful as I had hoped. The only noteworthy outcome was http://www.albany.edu/edfin/CR01_MSK_Figures.pdf. Even though an abstract or outline was not provided, the web page displayed a series of graphs that involved the participation of New York state high school students in English, Math, and US history over the years 1992-2000. However, I discovered that the results were participation results for those who participated in a New York State Regents test, which did not apply to my study. Also, no explanations were provided; therefore, there is uncertainty that proper statistical methods were used and what exactly was being measured was left relatively ambiguous. I then decided to add the word observational study to my search: observational study + participation rate for math vs. English students. Using these search criteria, I received some more specific results, but still nothing directly related to my study. One study that I found at http://www.cse.ucla.edu/products/reports/R702.pdf sparked my interest. The study “investigated the interactive effects between students’ opportunity to learn (OTL) in the classroom, two language-related testing accommodations, and English language learner (ELL) students and other students of varying language proficiency, and how these variables impact mathematics performance.” However, this study collected data from California schools, used testing as a measure of “performance,” and did not relate directly to student participation. Overall, I found a number of studies that did not have a direct relation to my study, but rather investigated information regarding student testing. I searched many times using different search criteria. Because I was unable to find anything, my study must be somewhat unique. Measuring participation, as opposed to test scores, will help me to make my conclusion based on which class, English or math, students are more likely to participate in. Other studies did not use “participation” as a unit of measurement.
