Download or read book Perceptions Of Ability Grouping And Its Possible Contribution To The Achievement Gap written by Frederick Douglas Williams and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this mixed methodology study was to explore the perceptions of ability grouping and its possible contribution to the achievement gap within the high school. The researcher asserted that course placement criterion, associated with the College Prep, Honors and Advanced placement ability groups, serve as contributing factors towards maintaining an achievement gap between White, Asian, Black and Hispanic students. The study revealed stakeholder perceptions and concerns regarding the methods involved to place students in College Prep, Honors and Advanced Placement courses as a contributing factor towards maintaining the achievement gap that exists within the district. This study focused on the following research questions: (1) What are the specific beliefs, roles, and influences of teachers, administrators, counselors, students, and parents when determining ability level placement in school? (2) What key factors shape teacherss perceptions of students relative to academic achievement and placement? (3) Does a course placement criterion contribute to the achievement gap? The findings were based upon four data sources: focus groups conducted with parents, teachers/counselors, and students; interviews conducted with three district administrators; an on-line survey completed by parents, students, teachers/counselors and administrators; and a review of archival data regarding course enrollment and High School Proficiency Assessment scores over a period of three academic years. This action research dissertation revealed fifteen findings of which four themes emerged. The themes are: (1) Beliefs, values, and influences of teachers, parents, and students affect ability grouping decisions; (2) A students perceived work ethic and grades earned in previous classes influence teachers decisions regarding ability placement; (3) The parents right to overrule teacher course recommendations and course placement criterion contribute towards the achievement gap; and (4) Course enrollment and standardized test scores demonstrate the existence of an achievement gap in Central Jersey High School.
Download or read book Administrators Perceptions Regarding Impact of Ability Grouping on Student Achievement and School Culture written by Matthew D. Fox and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine administrators' perceptions of the impact of ability grouping regarding school culture and student achievement. Fifteen secondary administrators from school districts in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania completed online surveys containing 20 Likert scale and 6 open-ended questions. Additionally, six administrators volunteered to participate in structured interviews to further explore administrator perceptions of ability grouping. The first research question examined administrator perceptions of the impact of ability grouping on school culture. Analysis of the data indicated that participants agreed that ability grouping provides a customized, individualized curriculum to address the needs of students. Participants perceived that ability grouping may segregate students by socioeconomic status and race, particularly for minority and lower socioeconomic students. Participants also acknowledged that ability grouping students leads to varied social and academic opportunities amongst students dependent on their level placement. The second research question identified administrator perceptions of the impact of ability grouping on student achievement. The findings suggested that participants believed that homogeneous ability grouping widens the achievement gap between higher and lower-ability students. Participants similarly perceived that grouping higher-ability students together tends to lead to higher student achievement. Lastly, participants shared how ability grouping creates disparities in social and academic opportunities, which coincides with their concurrence that heterogeneous ability grouping leads to greater student achievement for all students through equal access to educational experiences and opportunities.
Download or read book Ability Grouping in Education written by Judith Ireson and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2001 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ability Grouping in Education provides an overview of ability grouping in education. The authors consider selective schooling and ability grouping within schools, such as streaming, banding setting and within-class grouping.
Download or read book The Black White Test Score Gap written by Christopher Jencks and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: " The test score gap between blacks and whites—on vocabulary, reading, and math tests, as well as on tests that claim to measure scholastic aptitude and intelligence--is large enough to have far-reaching social and economic consequences. In their introduction to this book, Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips argue that eliminating the disparity would dramatically reduce economic and educational inequality between blacks and whites. Indeed, they think that closing the gap would do more to promote racial equality than any other strategy now under serious discussion. The book offers a comprehensive look at the factors that contribute to the test score gap and discusses options for substantially reducing it. Although significant attempts have been made over the past three decades to shrink the test score gap, including increased funding for predominantly black schools, desegregation of southern schools, and programs to alleviate poverty, the median black American still scores below 75 percent of American whites on most standardized tests. The book brings together recent evidence on some of the most controversial and puzzling aspects of the test score debate, including the role of test bias, heredity, and family background. It also looks at how and why the gap has changed over the past generation, reviews the educational, psychological, and cultural explanations for the gap, and analyzes its educational and economic consequences. The authors demonstrate that traditional explanations account for only a small part of the black-white test score gap. They argue that this is partly because traditional explanations have put too much emphasis on racial disparities in economic resources, both in homes and in schools, and on demographic factors like family structure. They say that successful theories will put more emphasis on psychological and cultural factors, such as the way black and white parents teach their children to deal with things they do not know or understand, and the way black and white children respond to the same classroom experiences. Finally, they call for large-scale experiments to determine the effects of schools' racial mix, class size, ability grouping, and other policies. In addition to the editors, the contributors include Claude Steele, Ronald Ferguson, William G. Bowen, Philip Cook, and William Julius Wilson. "
Download or read book Ability Grouping of Students written by David Warren Goold and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Reassessing Ability Grouping written by Becky Francis and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-07-23 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presenting original quantitative and qualitative data from a large-scale empirical research project conducted in British secondary schools, Reassessing ‘Ability’ Grouping analyses the impact of attainment grouping on pupil outcomes, teacher effectiveness and social equality. Alongside a comprehensive account of existing literature and the international field, this book offers: Rigorous conceptual analysis of data A view of wider political debates on pupils' social backgrounds and educational attainment A discussion of the practicalities of classroom practice Recommendations for improved practice to maximise pupil outcomes, experiences and equity Vignettes, illustrative tables and graphs, as well as quotes from teacher interviews and pupil focus groups Addressing attainment grouping as an obstacle to raising pupil attainment, this book offers a distinctive, wide-ranging appraisal of the international field, new large-scale empirical evidence, and ‘close to practice’ attention to the practicalities and constraints of the classroom. Reassessing ‘Ability’ Grouping is an essential read for any practitioners and policymakers, as well as students engaged in the field of education and social justice.
Download or read book Mixed Ability Grouping written by Charles Bailey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book, first published in 1983, explores the argument that justifies mixed ability groupings in schools and the consequences of practicing the different justificatory arguments. The issues to be dealt with by staff making decisions about grouping arrangements in their schools are clearly worked out from basic principles rooted in social philosophy. The ideas of social justice and fraternity, implicit and unexamined in much discussions about mixed-ability grouping are here explained and their limitations and implications described. The issues discussed in this book are not only important for teachers and for those studying to become teachers, but also for school governors, administrators and parents who can gain a better understanding of the school system through this study.
Download or read book The Impact of Ability grouping on the Achievement Self efficacy and Class Perceptions of Gifted Elementary Students written by Kristy Beam Hendricks and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Miseducation written by Diane Reay and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2017-10-11 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book Diane Reay, herself working-class-turned-Cambridge-professor, presents a 21st-century view of education and the working classes. Drawing on over 500 interviews, the book includes vivid stories from working-class children and young people. It looks at class identity, and the effects of wider economic and social class relationships on working-class educational experiences. The book reveals how we have ended up with an educational system that still educates the different social classes in fundamentally different ways and, vitally, what we can do to achieve a fairer system. Book jacket.
Download or read book The Achievement Gap in Reading written by Rosalind Horowitz and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-04-07 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume prominent scholars, experts in their respective fields and highly skilled in the research they conduct, address educational and reading research from varied perspectives and address what it will take to close the achievement gap—with specific attention to reading. The achievement gap is redefined as a level at which all groups can compete economically in our society and have the literacy tools and habits needed for a good life. Bringing valuable theoretical frameworks and in-depth analytical approaches to interpretation of data, the contributors examine factors that contribute to student achievement inside the school but which are also heavily influenced by out-of-school factors—such as poverty and economics, ethnicity and culture, family and community stratifications, and approaches to measurement of achievement. These out-of-school factors present possibilities for new policies and practice. The overarching theme is that achievement gaps in reading are complex and that multiple perspectives are necessary to address the problem. The breadth and depth of perspectives and content in this volume and its conceptualization of the achievement gap are a significant contribution to the field.
Download or read book Setting and Streaming written by Wynne Harlen and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using a best evidence synthesis model, this book reviews research conducted in primary/elementary and secondary schools in the United States and in Great Britain on setting and streaming (ways of grouping pupils according to ability). The review concludes that research provides no evidence that student achievement at the primary/elementary school level is raised either by streaming (grouping by general ability) or setting (grouping by subject ability) within the school. Within-class ability grouping at the elementary school level has been found to have advantages for mathematics achievement. At the secondary level, there is no consistent and reliable evidence of positive effects of setting and streaming in any subjects, or for students of particular ability levels. Evidence suggests that teachers sometimes treat mixed-ability groups as though they were low-ability groups and that even experienced teachers frequently use inappropriate whole-class teaching methods with mixed-ability classes. What is important in determining achievement is that the challenge and support given to learners meet their needs. (Contains 168 references.) (KB)
Download or read book Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood written by Allison James and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-09-02 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Download or read book A Study of Perceptions of Ability Grouping in a Selected School District written by John M. Jorgensen and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Catalyzing Change in High School Mathematics written by and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Catalyzing Change in High School Mathematics : Initiating Critical Conversations is written for classroom teachers; counselors, coaches, specialists, and instructional leaders; school, district, and state administrators; curriculum developers; and policymakers at all levels with the goal of beginning a serious discussion of the issues for high school mathematics that are outlined in this document.--
Download or read book Boys Girls and Achievement written by Becky Francis and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-01-04 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Girls are now out-performing boys at GCSE level, giving rise to a debate in the media on boys' underachievement. However, often such work has been a 'knee-jerk' response, led by media, not based on solid research. Boys, Girls and Achievement - Addressing the Classroom Issues fills that gap and: *provides a critical overview of the current debate on achievement; *Focuses on interviews with young people and classroom observations to examine how boys and girls see themselves as learners; *analyses the strategies teachers can use to improve the educational achievements of both boys and girls. Becky Francis provides teachers with a thorough analysis of the various ways in which secondary school pupils construct their gender identities in the classroom. The book also discusses methods teachers might use challenge these gender constructions in the classroom and thereby address the 'gender-gap' in achievement.
Download or read book Black American Students in An Affluent Suburb written by John U. Ogbu and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-02-26 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Ogbu has studied minority education from a comparative perspective for over 30 years. The study reported in this book--jointly sponsored by the community and the school district in Shaker Heights, Ohio--focuses on the academic performance of Black American students. Not only do these students perform less well than White students at every social class level, but also less well than immigrant minority students, including Black immigrant students. Furthermore, both middle-class Black students in suburban school districts, as well as poor Black students in inner-city schools are not doing well. Ogbu's analysis draws on data from observations, formal and informal interviews, and statistical and other data. He offers strong empirical evidence to support the cross-class existence of the problem. The book is organized in four parts: *Part I provides a description of the twin problems the study addresses--the gap between Black and White students in school performance and the low academic engagement of Black students; a review of conventional explanations; an alternative perspective; and the framework for the study. *Part II is an analysis of societal and school factors contributing to the problem, including race relations, Pygmalion or internalized White beliefs and expectations, levelling or tracking, the roles of teachers, counselors, and discipline. *Community factors--the focus of this study--are discussed in Part III. These include the educational impact of opportunity structure, collective identity, cultural and language or dialect frame of reference in schooling, peer pressures, and the role of the family. This research focus does not mean exonerating the system and blaming minorities, nor does it mean neglecting school and society factors. Rather, Ogbu argues, the role of community forces should be incorporated into the discussion of the academic achievement gap by researchers, theoreticians, policymakers, educators, and minorities themselves who genuinely want to improve the academic achievement of African American children and other minorities. *In Part IV, Ogbu presents a summary of the study's findings on community forces and offers recommendations--some of which are for the school system and some for the Black community. Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement is an important book for a wide range of researchers, professionals, and students, particularly in the areas of Black education, minority education, comparative and international education, sociology of education, educational anthropology, educational policy, teacher education, and applied anthropology.
Download or read book Methods of Grouping Learners at School written by Vincent Dupriez and published by United Nations Education, Scientific & Cultural Organization. This book was released on 2010 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How should classrooms be formed in a school? What criteria should be used for dividing students up between schools and classes? When is tracking/streaming and ability grouping appropriate in a school system? the author reviews the research of the past decade in order to evaluate the impact of class composition on students' learning. The question of equality of opportunity is also addressed. Although it is one of the fundamental principles of every educational project in the democratic countries, what are the real learning opportunities offered to students? Among the factors that make these opportunities differ between schools, or even between classes, researchers have long studied the question of the influence that each pupil or student has on his or her classmates - the so-called ’peer effect'. Going beyond peer effect within classes, this book also considers the subtle and sometimes unintentional process of adapting the teaching level according To The level of the school, which can lead to inequalities. Beyond a review of the research carried out on these issues, The author tackles related issues of administration and education policy.
