Intellectual and Academic Achievements and Adjustment of Underprivileged Children in Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Classrooms

Abstract

ARZI, YEHUDIT, and AMIR, YEHUDA. Intellectual and Academic Achievements and Adjustment of Underprivileged Children in Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Classrooms. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 726-729. Integrating underprivileged children in classrooms with privileged children is a major educational problem in Israel today. This study aims to investigate whether the contact in the integrated classrooms in their existing form achieves the desired positive goals in education and emotional adjustment. It was hypothesized (1) that the educational and intellectual achievements of underprivileged children in homogeneous schools (UHM) would be lower than those of underprivileged children in integrated or heterogeneous classrooms (UHT); and that the UHT would be less well adjusted than the UHM. Subjects of the study were 340 fourth-grade pupils from 5 homogeneous and 5 integrated schools. The results confirm the hypotheses, though not completely. The UHT excel in mathematics and nonverbal intelligence over the UHM, but in verbal achievements both groups are equal. The UHM show better personal adjustment than the UHT.