Robert B. Burns

Research in classrooms : the study of teachers, teaching, and instruction

This work examines the epistemological issues concerning classroom research and pursues them in relation to design and methodological matters.

“Simply No Worse and Simply No Better” May Simply Be Wrong: A Critique of Veenman’s Conclusion About Multigrade Classes

Although Simon Veenman’s (1995) synthesis of research on multigrade and multi-age classes contributes important definitions and findings to the literature, his assessment of the effects of multigrade classes—the more common of these classroom structures—ignores two key factors: (a) selection bias and (b) lower-quality instruction. The omission of these two key factors and Veenman’s implicit advocacy of multi-age classes and cross-grade grouping render his no-difference conclusion problematic. In this article, we critique Veenman’s conclusion and explanations, and argue that selection bias and lower-quality instruction should be included as part of the explanation for his no-difference finding. We conclude that multigrade classes have at least a small negative effect on achievement as well as potentially negative effects on teacher motivation. We suggest that researchers examine more carefully the conditions under which student achievement and affect may be fostered in this classroom structure.

Class Composition and Student Achievement in Elementary Schools

Principals and teachers sometimes intentionally use class formation procedures to create class compositions. This study examined the class distributional properties of 200 elementary school classes in two school districts. Fifty-six classes were combination classes—classes with students from two grade levels. The two districts differed in their policies toward gifted and talented classes and in principals’ preferences for heterogeneous student assignment. Students completed pretest measures of ability and independence and posttest measures of achievement. Hierarchical linear modeling procedures were used to estimate composition effects. The major findings were that (a) principals and teachers assigned higher ability and more independent students to combination classes; (b) these purposeful assignment procedures affected the class distributional properties and how achievement variation was allocated within and between classes; and (c) composition effects were observed for both ability and independence in the district with a commitment to gifted and talented classes, and these composition effects were strongest in combination classes. It is argued that evidence on both student assignment rules and substantive mechanisms for compositional effects are needed to properly interpret regression coefficients relating outcome to pretest in classroom studies.

Reassessing the Effects of Combination Classes.

ABSTRACT This article reviews the research on combination classes–an often debated grouping structure in which students from two or more grades are placed with one teacher for most or all of the school day. Because researchers and disseminators of research have generally overlooked key distinctions between combination classes and their most common counterparts–single‐grade and multiage/nongraded classes–we begin by distinguishing combination classes, formed as a result of imbalanced or inadequate enrollments, from single‐grade classes, formed as a part of traditional schooling, and multiage/nongraded classes, formed as a result of pedagogical or philosophical interests. We show that conclusions about the effects of combination classes are confounded by (a) the merging of combination class studies with those that included several multiage/nongraded components, and (b) the slighting of a unique and important feature of combination classes–the assignment of certain types of students and teachers to these cla...

Class Formation and Composition in Elementary Schools

This study examined the class formation procedures used in 22 elementary schools from two districts, as well as the influence these procedures had on the class composition of 200 classes, 56 of which were combination classes (classes with students from two grade levels). Principals were interviewed about their procedures for assigning students to classes, and students completed pretest measures. The major finding was that principals, in an effort to ease the burden that combination classes placed on teachers, assigned higher ability and more independent students to these classes, a strategy that raised the ability level of combination classes but lowered it in adjacent single-grade classes. This study suggests that it may be profitable to conceptualize both elementary and secondary school student assignment procedures as the same mechanism, a mechanism that creates particular K–12 curricular paths for students.

Values, Evidence, and Mastery Learning

The decision about learning and learners [is a decision] about an ideal, about how we [conceive] what a learner should be in order to assure that a society of a particular valued kind could be safeguarded. … At the heart of the decision process there must be a value judgment about how the mind should be cultivated and to what end. (Bruner, 1985, p. 5)

A Comparison of Activity Structures During Basic Skills and Problem-Solving Instruction in Seventh-Grade Mathematics

The primary purpose of this study was to describe problem-solving instruction and examine whether it was different from basic skills instruction. Nine seventh-grade mathematics teachers were observed for 5 consecutive days during their regular instruction. They were then asked to plan and implement a 6-day unit over four problem-solving skills given to them by the experimenters. Their problem-solving instruction was observed using the same observational methodology as during regular instruction. Detailed narrative records of the lessons, teacher, and observer ratings of the instruction, and student work assignments were obtained. These data were used to segment each lesson and describe the activity structure of the daily instruction. Comparison of the activity structures and teacher and observer ratings between regular and problem-solving instruction revealed few major differences between the two types of instruction. Between-teacher differences in activity structures were greater than differences across the two types of instruction, suggesting consistent but individualistic time use patterns for teachers. An organizational style for instruction was suggested as a possible explanation for the findings.

Toward a Theory of Combination Classes.

ABSTRACT This rejoinder replies to Veenmans (1997) critique of our (Mason & Burns, 1997a) literature review conclusion that combination classes lead to at least small negative effects. Veenman argues that his reviews (1995, 1996) lead to a conclusion that combination classes are “simply no worse and simply no better” than single‐grade classes. In our response, we identify and discuss the major disagreements we have with Veenmans findings, assumptions, and explanations. Veenmans conclusion, we explain, is hampered by a narrow reading and interpretation of the literature that appears to focus (a) too heavily on faulting teachers for failing to capitalize on the “potential positive effects” of combination classes, and (b) too lightly on interview research, observational studies, and a theory that would explain how the no‐difference achievement effects occurred.

The Role of Conceptual Frameworks in Understanding and Using Classroom Research

(1990). The Role of Conceptual Frameworks in Understanding and Using Classroom Research. South Pacific Journal of Teacher Education: Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 5-18.