Valuing the Basics: The Importance of Coherence for Student Achievement

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: Division A Graduate Student Poster Session

Abstract

In the present study, we seek to provide empirical evidence for the importance of coherence with more generalizable data than previous work. We use data from teacher surveys administered to a random sample of schools across the state of Florida and measure two different aspects of coherence and their relations to student achievement. Drawing on research on curriculum and the concept of instructional program coherence articulated by Newmann and his colleagues (2001), we hypothesized that curriculum alignment and program coherence are two most important aspects of coherence that are related to instruction. Utilizing both survey results and student demographic/achievement data from the state, we found that both curriculum alignment and program coherence are related to student achievement.

Authors

• Jeong-Mi Moon, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Eric M. Camburn, University of Wisconsin

• James Sebastian, University of Missouri - Columbia