© 2016. Carolyn F. Fiaschetti, John R. Slate, George W. Moore & Cynthia Martinez-Garcia. This is a research/review paper, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creative- commons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Global Journal of HUMAN-SOCIAL SCIENCE: G Linguistics & Education Volume 16 Issue 8 Version 1.0 Year 2016 Type: Double Blind Peer Reviewed International Research Journal Publisher: Global Journals Inc. (USA) Online ISSN: 2249-460x & Print ISSN: 0975-587X Differences in Academic Performance by Grade Span Configuration for Students in Poverty By Carolyn F. Fiaschetti, John R. Slate, George W. Moore & Cynthia Martinez-Garcia Sam Houston State University Abstract- In this investigation, the degree to which passing rates on the STAAR Reading and Mathematics assessments of Grade 5 and 6 students in poverty in the state of Texas differed as a function of grade span configuration was examined. Data were obtained from the Texas Education Agency for all Grade 5 and 6 students in poverty who were enrolled in single/double grade level (i.e., Grades 4-5, 5 only, or Grades 5-6) or in multi-grade level (i.e., PreK-6) grade span configurations for the 2012-2013 through the 2014-2015 school years. Inferential analyses revealed the presence of statistically significant differences in reading and mathematics passing rates between the two grade span configurations. Grade 5 and Grade 6 students in poverty had statistically significantly higher reading and mathematics passing rates in multi-grade level schools than in single/double grade level schools. Implications for policy and practice are provided. Keywords: grade span configuration, academic achievement, poverty, grade 5, grade 6. GJHSS-G Classification: FOR Code: 139999 DifferencesinAcademicPerformancebyGradeSpanConfigurationforStudentsinPoverty Strictly as per the compliance and regulations of: