The Influence of Instructional Time on Student Achievement in Grades 3, 4, and 5 in Language Arts and Mathematics on the 2011 New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJASK)

The purpose of this cross-sectional, non-experimental, explanatory quantitative research study was to determine the strength and direction of the relationship between instructional time and student achievement in Grades 3, 4, and 5 on the 2011 New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge in Language Arts Literacy (LAL) and Mathematics. The unit of analysis was school. The sample included all public elementary schools in the state of New Jersey with students who participated in the NJASK 3-5 LAL and Mathematics assessments for the 2010-2011 school year. The independent or predictor variable of interest was instructional time, which is defined as the exact amount of time a school dedicates to instruction during a normal school day controlling for educator, student, and school variables. Student variables included student attendance, student mobility, and Limited English Proficiency. Educator variables included educator attendance, educator mobility, and credentials of the educators and administrators at the school. Other school level variables included economically disadvantaged students receiving special education services and total size of the student population for that school. The variable of interest, total instructional time, was not a statistically significant predictor of student achievement in Grades 3, 4, and 5 on the 2011 NJASK for Language Arts Literacy and Mathematics. The variable that proved to be the most significant predictor of student achievement in Grades 3, 4, and 5 on the 2011 NJASK for Language Arts Literacy and Mathematics was socioeconomic status or economically disadvantaged. Other variables that were found to be statistically significant predictors of student achievement included the percentage of faculty with a higher degree and the percentage of students with disabilities, which were statistically significant predictors of student achievement for students in Grades 3, 4, and 5 on the LAL NJASK, as well as for Grades 4 and 5 on the Mathematics NJASK.