Does How Students Are Assigned to Classes Matter? An Examination of Relative Student Achievement

• In Event: Roundtable Session 41
  In Roundtable Session: The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Student Assignment Policies

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between student to classroom assignment practices and relative student achievement on state standardized tests. Persistent achievement and resource gaps, continued pressures of high stakes testing, and the recent inclusion of student performance data in educator evaluations made the study both timely and relevant. Capitalizing on a unique site in which most students were tracked one year and detracked the next, students’ change in ELA performance was more attributable to time-varying factors, such as tracking status, rather than time-invariant characteristics, such as race or sex. Statistical analyses, including multilevel modeling, indicated non-advanced students who were mixed with advanced students had the most significant achievement gains. Other groups also had gains, but they were not statistically significant.

Author

• Christine Fierro, Durham Public Schools