Mixed Classrooms Research Articles

Gender and Ethnicity as Factors in the Development of Verbal Skills in Bilingual Mexican American Women

This study describes and analyzes differences in student output across ethnicity and gender in a mixed monolingual English and bilingual Spanish/English class in order to understand how L2 oral language skills are developed in a mixed classroom. Primary participants in the study included approximately 30 basic writing students ranging in age from 18 to 60. Fifty-five percent of the students were bilingual Mexican American, and the remainder were monolingual Anglo Americans. Participant observation, informal interviews, and audio-tape classroom and tutorial interaction provide the data for this classroom ethnography. Data were analyzed to discover patterns of student output in various interfactional contexts and to discover how the structure and content of interaction influenced these patterns. The analysis revealed that bilingual Mexican American students spoke significantly less in whole class interaction than monolingual Anglo American students. Moreover, an analysis by gender revealed that Mexican American men contributed four times the amount expected, whereas Mexican American women spoke half as much as expected. In other interfactional contexts, however, the bilingual women were quite verbal. The social status of Mexican American women as “double minorities” and negative attitudes toward Spanish/English bilingual help explain why the Mexican American women alone responded to whole class interaction with silence.

The Effects of Gifted and Talented Programs on Academic Self-Concept: The Big Fish Strikes Again

Participation in gifted and talented (G&T) programs is predicted to have negative effects on academic—but not nonacademic—self-concept on the basis of social comparison theory and Marsh’s big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE). In two studies, students in G&T programs experienced systematic declines in three components of academic self-concept (Reading, Math, School) over time and in relation to matched comparison students in regular mixed ability classrooms, but not in four components of nonacademic self-concept (Physical, Appearance, Peer Relations, Parent Relations). In both studies, these results were consistent over gender, age, and initial ability level. Selection criteria, program strategies, and advice to parents are proposed to counteract this BFLPE and to maximize the benefits associated with G&T programs.

Learning to Learn: action research from an equal opportunities perspective in a junior school

AbstractThe project described is action research into pupils’ learning in a (years 5 and 6) class of a primary school, which was carried out by the class teacher and an eduction lecturer, in partnership. While the focus of the research was on the processes of pupils’ learning, the overriding research question was the possibility of improving equality of opportunity for pupils in a socially and racially mixed classroom. The resulting innovative, participative methodology is discussed. It is argued that the pupils were empowered by their involvement in the setting up of the research and in drawing conclusions from it. This process is described, and the effects on the children's ability to learn and reflect on their own learning needs are reported. Finally, the question of how far research of this kind should be extended to an explicit focus on race, class or gender is raised.

Comprehensive Education in Belgium: A Broken Lever?

Moves to introduce comprehensive education in Belgium started in 1971. Because of its pedagogical objectives, and also because of the social changes pursued through it, comprehensive education was always under attack. Pressure groups from both within and outside the education system turned this reform into a battlefield of social and political views on society and its future. Educational objectives, at the meso and micro level, such as postponement of selection or mixed ability classrooms, were repeatedly linked with macro societal issues.

Who Talks? The position of girls in mixed sex classrooms

Who Talks? The position of girls in mixed sex classrooms

Response to Wang and Walberg

Response to Wang and Walberg Wang and Walberg characterize their ALEM research as descriptive, not experimental (p. 134, this issue). They write, for example, that teachers . . . are not randomly selected by an investigator for study participation (p. 134); instead, parental and teacher choice decides (p. 132). However, Wang and Walberg claim our demand for high quality experimental research is unfair and impractical. They complain, Such research presumably would obtain representative samples and randomly assign students to experimental and control They end their protestation with confidence: School-based studies using criterion of a true experimental design, of course, are nearly impossible; such studies are extremely rare (p. 131). As a valued scholar-farmer at University of Minnesota would say, Hog-wash! Schweinhart and Weikart (1985) described from seven of earliest and longest ongoing evaluations of preschool programs for children from poverty. Of these valuations, 4 employed experimental designs, despite that most were begun 20 to 26 years ago (see Schweinhart & Weikart, 1985, p. 546). In an evaluation of Title I programs, Slavin (1987) reviewed pertinent literature in search of rigorously evaluated and effective models (p. 111). In his Tables 1 through 5 (see pp. 112-119), he described 20 programs that have been researched with matched and/or randomly assigned control groups. In fact, Slavin has conducted several of his ownlarge-scale, school-based investigations of a mathematics program. One study (Slavin, Madden, & Leavey, 1984) compared this program to control methods in a 24-week experiment involving 1,371 students in 59 classrooms. More than 8% of pupils were designated handicapped. Examples of scientifically rigorous, school-based investigations are not difficult to fiond in research literature, which is not to say that such studies are easy to accomplish. Indeed, are not. But neither is it easy for a general educator to implement effective instruction for all students in a mixed ability classroom or for a special educator to engineer successful transfer of pupils from resource to regular classrooms. Despite difficulty of their jobs, we expect these educators to aim for, if not achieve, excellence. Likewise, conducting high-quality, school-based research is challenging, but do-able. Teachers, parents, administrators, and policy makers as well as educational research community should demand it, especially in connection with proposals such as GEI, which call for fundamental sweeping change. ALEM RESEARCH: IF NOT EXPERIMENTAL, THEN HOW MUCH? Although Wang and Walberg concede ALEM research is largely nonexperimental, contend that their descriptive research and replications of program implementations . . . are fundamental to building a research base (p. 132). This prompts question, How many ALEM replications, or implementations, have Wang and colleagues conducted? Because chunk data obtained from one implementation into smaller segments, and then publish these as multiple studies, there is an appearance of many ALEM implementations. This impression is strengthened by their tendency to report some of same data in different places. Bryan and Bryan (1988) have argued, the danger is that this [practice of duplicative reporting] creates an impression of massive data and replicated results (p. 3). In fact, we found no more than four and possibly as few as two documented implementations, depending on interpretation of which published study belongs to what implementation effort. Wang and Walberg argue that this seriously underestimates size of ALEM data base. They charge, the Fuchs have overlooked a vast number of ALEM studies (p. 133), conducted by them and others, and claim one reason for this purported oversight was that they did not come to us directly as most knowledgeable source of information (p. …

Images of Africa for American Students

An awareness that any minority culture may be a majority culture elsewhere in the world is an essential element in understanding cultural differences. Combine that with an acceptance of individuals as worthy, social groups as valuable, and other cultures as necessary, and you have the foundation for affirming those different from yourself. What better equipment could there be for teachers who find themselves in a culturally mixed classroom!

Accounting for Tastes: Correlates of Risk and Time Preferences

Most economists assume that tastes are exogenous, that tastes do not lend themselves to economic analysis, and that their development should therefore be ignored. While most recognize that tastes are probably influenced by psychological and sociological factors particularly as they influence family life, few economists speculate about what those factors might be and the corresponding implications they might have for economic policy pronouncements. By assuming tastes to be exogenous, economics is rendered an inherently conservative discipline; that is, much economic analysis provides an ideological rationale for the status quo. Economists are more likely to ask, How might resources be better allocated to satisfy existing tastes? rather than, Are tastes themselves in any sense desirable or undesirable and should they be changed? Policymakers, fortunately, are willing to ask both questions and to be guided by social science research in arriving at answers. Social scientists have provided valuable information to policymakers concerning, for example, the causes and cures for bigotry. Education researchers have produced ample evidence that, for children studying in racially mixed classrooms, attitudinal measures of racism are less than for children who study in segregated classrooms. The primary aim of desegregation and civil rights legislation in the eyes of many policymakers has been to change the tastes and preferences of segregated populations concerning their views of each other.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, ATTITUDES, AND SOCIAL RELATIONS IN INTERGENERATIONAL COLLEGE CLASSES

Increasing acceptance of the idea of older adults returning to college campuses has raised a number of questions. Not least among the concerns are those related to classroom behavior and classroom relations. Despite the philosophical support for mixing older and younger students in college classes, limited empirical support is available to administrators who must contend with the fears of younger students and the insecurity of faculty. Therefore, this study was designed to analyze research concerning three important dimensions of the mixed classroom: academic performance, attitudes, and social relations. Studies reported in three major gerontological journals since 1978 were reviewed. Accordingly, seven studies reported in 1980 or later were identified and analyzed. Based on the analysis, conclusions and recommendations are reported.

Using journals with third year classes

Sorry about the writing—I was in a rush to let you know love RosieThird year groups (pupils of 13–14) have always presented me with the most difficult problems of management in the mixed-ability classroom. Each year as August ends, I convince myself of the need to radically rethink this area of the curriculum. Each September, as the term swings into full action, I find my intentions swept away by what appear to be the more pressing requirements of other groups. Third years appear to occupy an educational no-man’s land in the middle reaches of secondary schooling. Old enough to have lost the spontaneity and enthusiasm that makes the junior forms so rewarding, they have yet to complete the metamorphosis which makes fourth years co-operative and self-motivating. Third years have frequently been the irritant in an otherwise pleasant, smooth running day.

Modifying Status Relations in Israeli Youth

The theory of status characteristics and expectation states provided the basis for applying expectation training to Israel society. A baseline study identified Middle Eastern and Western ethnic background as low and high states of a diffuse status characteristic; Jews of Western background were more active and influential than Jews of Middle Eastern background in four-person groups engaged in a collective task. Next, 180 Jewish boys of Middle Eastern and Western ethnic background participated in an experiment to alter ethnic interaction patterns reflecting the status ordering of the larger society. Middle Eastern subjects were trained to exhibit a high degree of competence on either academic or nonacademic tasks, whereupon they instructed Western boys in these tasks. Four-person groups comprised of two members from each ethnic group engaged in two group decision-making criterion tasks. Analysis of the interaction data revealed that both academic and nonacademic training increased the amount of influence wielded by low status subjects in contrast with control groups. Generality of the application to mixed status classrooms is analyzed.

Helping the Chicano Pupil

MEETING THE NEEDS Of Chicano students in mixed classrooms requires that educators adopt intervention measures which may not be appropriate for the entire student body. These measures are necessary to adjust traditional methodologies to the unique experiences and background of the Chicano. If Chicano youngsters are to be brought into the mainstream of learning, it is also necessary that many of the usual school practices be given up as ill-fitting any concept of multi-cultural education. Heretofore, the traditional myths of the homogeneous classroom and the melting pot mission of the school have lulled educators into a false sense of complacency. For many years teachers and administrators have been using a curriculum grounded on uni-cultural premises, and taught through a blanket methodology geared to an ephemeral middle group of students. Within this system, the occasional success of an isolated Chicano student clouded the