Televisions Effect on Grades 1 Television and Grades.

Effects of Television and Receiving free lunch on Grades Thomas Grant SOWK 300 MW Ms. McArthur 2/23/2012

Televisions Effect on Grades 2 Abstract: This paper will discuss how watching television can have an effect on students test scores. I will discuss how the amount of television watched per weekday will have a positive or negative effect on scores while also examining if this will be effected by sex of the respondent and also if the respondents receive free lunch. I will also use graphs to further illustrate the results of my findings to enhance the presentation quality of this report. Then I will discuss the results and why I think the results came out the way they did.

Televisions Effect on Grades 3 Hypothesis: The bivariate relationship is the number of hours a student watches television on weekdays has an effect on the students overall mathematics proficiency test scores for 8th grade students. The independent variable for this is The number of hours the students watching television on a weekday. This variable is broken down into four values. The first is 2 or fewer hours, the second is 2-4 hours, the third is 4 or more hours and the final value is for missing responses. The independent variable has an effect on the dependent variable which is The overall mathematics proficiency test scores for 8th grade students. The values for this are Level one and below, followed by level 1 and 2, followed by all 3 levels, then finally a value for missing responses. The control variables that we will be using are going to be the sex of the respondent which is broken down by male and female. Also we will use The percent in school who receive free lunch as the second control variable. The values for this are broken down by percent with the first being 1-30%, the second value being 31-75%, and the third being 76-100%, and the last value accounting for missing responses. One of the multivariate phrases is number of hours students watches television on weekdays has an effect on the overall mathematics proficiency exam test scores for 8th grade students controlling for sex of respondent. The sex of the respondents should have an effect on the both the numbers of hours TV that watched on a weekday and also the test scores. The second multivariate phrase is the number of hours a student watches television on weekdays has an effect on overall mathematics proficiency exam test scores for 8th grade students controlling for the percent in school who receive school lunch. I think that this control variable will have more of an impact on the amount of TV that is watched which will then in turn affect the test scores. Rationale: I think that the more television that is watched during the weekdays will have a negative effect on the overall math proficiency test scores. I think this because the more television that is watched the less time that can be spent studying. The less time that the student has to study the more likely they are to score lower on their test. I also think that in regards to the multivariate phrase where the control variable is sex of respondent, that females will score higher than the males. This is because at that age females have been known to score higher test than males. Also I think females are less likely to watch as much TV as males at this age. Lastly, I think that control variable the percent who receive free lunch will have a positive effect on test scores. This is because the students who receive free lunch are from a lower family income that will be less likely to be able to afford a television or be able to purchase as many channels as a student with a higher income that does not receive free lunch.

Televisions Effect on Grades 4 Results: Table 1 Overall Math Proficiency by Number of Hours R Watchs TV on Weekdays (%) Number of Hours TV is Watched Overall Math Proficiency Level 1 and Below Level 1 and 2 All 3 Levels Totals (N) 2 or Less 41.9 24.8 33.3 34.6 3207 2-4 50.6 25.5 23.9 41.4 3837 4 or More 61.5 23.6 14.9 23.9 2213 Totals 50.2 24.8 25.0 100.0 9257

Source: National Education Longitudinal Study: Base Year Through Fourth Follow-Up, 1988-2000

Televisions Effect on Grades 5 Table 2 Overall Math Proficiency by Number of Hours R Watchs TV on Weekdays Controlling for Rs Sex (%) Number of Hours TV is Watched Overall Math Proficiency 2 or Less 2-4 4 or More Totals

Male Respondents Level 1 and Below Level 1 and 2 All 3 Levels Totals (N) 38.1 26.1 35.8 33.9 1465 48.0 26.1 25.9 42.3 1829 58.2 25.2 16.6 23.8 1026 47.1 25.9 27.0 100.0 4320

Female Respondents Level 1 and Below Level 1 and 2 All 3 Levels Totals (N) 45.1 23.7 31.2 35.2 1720 53.1 24.7 22.2 40.7 1984 64.3 22.1 13.6 24.1 1176 53.0 23.7 23.3 100.0 4880

Source: National Education Longitudinal Study: Base Year Through Fourth Follow-Up, 1988-2000

Televisions Effect on Grades 6

Table 3 Overall Math Proficiency by Number of Hours R Watchs TV on Weekdays Percent Free Lunch in School (%) Number of Hours TV is Watched Overall Math Proficiency Level 1 and Below Level 1 and 2 All 3 Levels Totals (N) 2 or Less 2-4 1 30% 36.1 25.6 38.4 37.1 2468 46.3 26.5 27.1 41.5 2758 31 75% Level 1 and Below Level 1 and 2 All 3 Levels Totals (N) 60.6 22.6 16.8 27.2 589 59.6 24.0 16.4 41.9 909 76 100% Level 1 and Below Level 1 and 2 All 3 Levels Totals (N) 78.3 14.1 7.6 31.1 92 80.7 14.9 4.4 38.5 114 78.9 15.6 5.6 30.4 90 79.4 14.9 5.7 100.0 296 69.7 19.1 11.2 30.9 669 63.0 22.1 14.9 100.0 2167 56.7 25.8 17.5 21.4 1423 44.7 26.0 29.2 100.0 6649 4 or More Totals

Source: National Education Longitudinal Study: Base Year Through Fourth Follow-Up, 1988-2000

Televisions Effect on Grades 7 Discussion: After reviewing the data it was shown that my hypothesis on the higher number of TV watched on a weekday the lower the test scores would be. 33.3% of the students that watched TV 2 or fewer hours on weekdays where proficient at all 3 levels. That is they could perform at lower levels and could do simple problem solving requiring conceptual understanding of the development of a solution strategy. This can be compared to the 61.5% of students who watched TV for 4 or more hours on weekdays but tested at Level 1 and below. However also looking at this data it is alarming that most students results were low. 50.2% of the students where at Level 1 and below but this could be because 61.5% of those students watched 4 or more hours of TV. When looking at the data regarding my hypothesis on the female outscoring the males it would show that my hypothesis was wrong. Females watched more TV with the females having 24.1% watching 4 or more hours while the males had 23.8% watching the same amount. Also males had a higher proficiency than the female students with 27.0% of male students being proficient in all 3 levels while only 23.3 percent of females where proficient in all there levels. After doing some research a discovered an article that stated On a national assessment, boys score higher in math in science, while girls score higher in reading.1 This attributes to why the boys were more proficient. When looking at the data for my hypothesis about how receiving free lunch would improve test scores it seems as if I was only partially correct. Only 296 students are included in the 76-100% of students who receives free lunch. This number is a lot lower than what I originally predicted. This is so especially when compared to the 6649 students who fall in the 1-30% of students who receive free lunch. It would appear also that the students who receive free lunch are more likely to be less proficient in math. With 79.4% of the students in the 76-100% of students who gets free lunch scoring at level 1 and below.

Dee, T., S. (2006). How a Teachers Gender Affects Boys and Girls. The Why Chormosome, 1(1), 69-75. Retrieved from http://faculty.smu.edu/millimet/classes/eco4361/readings/quality%20I/dee%2001.pdf

Televisions Effect on Grades 8

References: National Education Longitudinal Study: Base Year Through Fourth Follow-Up, 1988-2000 Dee, T., S. (2006). How a Teachers Gender Affects Boys and Girls. The Why Chormosome, 1(1), 69-75. Retrieved from http://faculty.smu.edu/millimet/classes/eco4361/readings/quality%20I/dee%2001.pdf

Televisions Effect on Grades 9

Appendix:

Televisions Effect on Grades 10

Televisions Effect on Grades 11

Televisions Effect on Grades 12

Televisions Effect on Grades 13

Televisions Effect on Grades 14

Televisions Effect on Grades 15

Televisions Effect on Grades 16

Televisions Effect on Grades 17

Televisions Effect on Grades 18