Do Student Perceptions of Curriculum Matter? Evidence From Secondary Social Studies Students

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Cultivating Equitable Education Through Philosophies of Curriculum (Table 17)

Abstract

Practitioners and policy makers often theorize that shifts in the curriculum might improve student engagement. Here, I examine whether students’ perception of their social studies curriculum is related to their achievement and engagement. The novel and tenably valid Critical Cultural Perception Measure (Current Author, 2018) measures the extent to which a curriculum aligns with the goals of critical bicultural pedagogy (Darder, 1991, 2012). Students’ perceptions of curricular alignment with these goals differ by achievement levels, curriculum engagement levels, and socioeconomic levels. I contextualize these pronounced demographic differences in students’ perception of the curriculum through textual analysis of students’ open-responses. Evidence generated within this study indicates that curriculum perception measures may be valuable instruments to assess and respond to student disengagement.

Author

• Jenoge Khatter, Eugene School District 4J