U.S. Department of Education
Researchers: U.S. Department of Education
University Affiliation: U.S. Department of Education
Email:
Research Question:
To what extent are high school seniors' instructional experiences affected by their social backgrounds and by the schools they attend?
Published: 1
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Office of Educational Research and Improvement
Journal Entry: NCES 95-278
Year: 1996
Findings:
- The instruction seniors receive in their science and mathematics classes is strongly associated with the average achievement level of their classes. Students in higher classes experience a greater emphasis on developing higher-order thinking skills.
- Teachers manage their classes differently depending on the achievement level of the class.
- Students in lower-level classes receive less whole-class instruction and have a greater share of their class time consumed efforts to maintain order.
- Gender differences are very small both in rates and types of course enrollments and in the teacher reports of instructional practices. Race and ethnic differences are evident but mainly reflect socioeconomic differences among groups.
- Stronger professional cultures led to instruction that is closer to the ideals of the current reform movements in mathematics and science.
- Students in a higher achievement level class gained much more over the two year period on the NELS:88 math and science test scores than otherwise comparable students in lower achievement level classes. The results are more consistent in mathematics, but present in science as well.
- Controlling for sophomore achievement level, social background, school characteristics, achievement level, and teacher credentials, we still find that students whose teachers place greater emphasis on higher-order skills and lower emphasis on practical applications tend to score higher on NELS:88 tests.