1. Evaluation of the Nongraded Primary.
- Author
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Saint John's Univ., Jamaica, NY. and McLoughlin, William P.
- Abstract
This document details the procedures and results of a 1964-66 evaluation of volunteering middle-class suburban New York schools with primary classes nongraded in reading and arithmetic. The evaluation is more than a comparison of pupil progress in nongraded and graded classes; other variables are also correlated in the areas of school organization, beliefs and performances of teachers and principals, and influences on pupil progress by grade placement and demographic and community characteristics (as well as by school and educator characteristics). The extensive section on the methodology of comparing students and schools includes a discussion of three evaluation instruments which were developed for the study and which are used to assess the knowledge and acceptance by educators of nongraded principles (Education Opinion Inventory), the extent to which teachers recognize and accommodate student differences through classroom organization and materials (Nongraded Primaries in Action), and principals' perceptions of their responsibilities and nongraded principles (Principal Interview Guide). Correlations of all variables between graded and nongraded classes yielded insignificant values almost without exception. Conclusions emphasize that differences between nongraded and graded schools are thus not a matter of school organization or certain beliefs and performances of educators, rather greater student involvement and control in monitoring and guiding their own development would characterize a truly nongraded class. (LP)
- Published
- 1969