2-ECE LIBRARY

Schools That Make a Difference

by James Cass

BE since 1966, when James S. Cole-
man and his colleagues published
their massive study, Equality of Educa-
tional Opportunity, one of the most
controversial questions in education has
been whether schools can make a differ-
ence in the academic achievement of
students—especially the poor and the
non-white. The Coleman report found
that the factors usually associated with
- “good” schools appeared to have no ap-
reciable effect on stu j

What did appear to make a substan-
tial difference was family background—
the socioeconomic level from which
children came and the nature of the
student body characteristics children
brought with them in the first place.

Subsequent studies and practical ex-
perience with a variety of compensatory
and remedial programs seemed to sub-
stantiate Coleman's findings. However,
one uncomfortable _ fact
Some schools were far more effectiv
than others in stimulating achievemen
among disadvantaged youngsters. Mor
recently, studie ‘en undertaken
to identify those factors that make the
difference. The results, though still
tentative, clearly suggest directions in
which schools can—and should—move
in their efforts to serve the poor and
the dispossessed.

About a year ago New York State’s
Office of Education Performance Re-
view (State Capitol, Albany, N.Y.
12224) published a study called School
Factors Influencing Reading Achieve-
ment: A Case Study of Two Inner City
Schools. The two schools selected for
the study were compared in terms of a
variety of factors. In the better school,
for instance: 98 percent of the students
_ were black or Hispanic, 99 percent of

them were eligible for free lunch, they
were drawn from families with a median
family income of $7,800, there was a
pupil-teacher ratio of 33 to 1, and the
building was utilized at 103 percent of
capacity. In the less effective school: 88
percent of the students were black or His-
panic, 90 percent of them were eligible
for free lunch, they were drawn from
families with a median income of
$8,031, the pupil-teacher ratio was 28
to 1, and the building was utilized at
only 76 percent of capacity. In the more

  
 
 

effective school, 40 percent of the stu-
dents were reading at or above grade
level, while in the less effective school

The study found that the more effec-
tive school placed special emphasis on
the teaching of reading and had devel-
oped a plan for dealing with the reading
problem. Although reading instruction
did not differ materially in the two
schools, the teachers in the better school
displayed a more positive attitude. In
the less effective school, teachers tended
to attribute children’s reading problems
to non-school factors beyond their con-
trol and “were pessimistic about their
ability to have an impact,” an attitude

 

remained:

i led almost inevitably to a self-ful-

filling prophesy.
* fer this year the Research Depart-

ment of the Federal Reserve Bank of
Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pa. 19105)
released the results of a much broader
study of the factors affecting school
achievement in the schools of Philadel-
phia. This study also challenges some of
the long-held assumptions about factors
that contribute to the academic effective-
ness of schools. For instance, the general
physical facilities of schools were found
to have little to do with the quality of
students’ learning. “More or less play-
ground space, more or less crowded sci-
ence labs, a new or an old school build-
ing . . . seem to make little difference
when achievement-test scores are the
measure of the student’s output.” Simi-
larly, the education of teachers beyond
the BA, their scores on the National
Teachers’ Examination, and the corre-
spondence of teachers’ and students’ race
all appear unrelated to student achieve-
ment.

Most important, however, is the find-
ing that school resources do not affect
all students uniformly. For instance, all
types of elementary-school students do
better if they are taught by teachers who
graduated from higher-rated colleges, if
they are in a school with a 40 to 60 per-
cent black student body, if they are in
classes of 33 or fewer, and if the student
body includes more _high-achievers.
Low-achieving elementary-school stu-
dents, however, do better if they are
in classes of fewer than 28 students an¢
if they have new, younger teachers. All
types of junior-high students do better
in schools that are part of elementary

eel

 

 

schools and if they are in classes of 31
or fewer. Under-achievers in this group
benefit from younger English teachers
and from a larger number of high-
achievers in their classes. All high-
school students do better if they are in
smaller schools, where dropouts and dis-
ruptions are less of a problem. But un-
der-achievers at this age level respond
particularly to English classes that have
fewer than 27 students as well as to a
small-school environment.

The many other findings of the study
indicate that school resources are more
effective when they are targeted to the
types of students that will benefit most.
Family background and socioeconomic
level do have an effect on student
achievement. But, as the study points
out: “Perhaps educational studies have
failed to uncover the effective accom-
plishments of schools because few
school inputs consistently benefit all stu-

ts.” se

 

 

 

 

The Mystery
of MAN

by Owen
Sharkey

   

a

An Anthropologic Study

This very impressive narrative
is written from the viewpoint
of man’s self-awareness and
seeks to define man through
rational insight.

Sharkey confronts the
problematical man, sees him
as an integral part of the
whole of reality and therein
discovers his true identity.

$10.95 from your bookseller

or directly from:

FRANKLIN PUBLISHING CO.
Philadelphia, Pa. 19103