Robert G. Croninger

How High School Organization Influences the Equitable Distribution of Learning in Mathematics and Science.

Using a sample of 9,631 students in 789 U.S. high schools with three waves of data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, the study presented here was an extension of an earlier study that found positive effects for practices that are consistent with the restructuring movement on learning in the first two years of high school and on the equitable distribution of learning by social class. The current study identified the characteristics of high school organization that are positively related to learning in mathematics and science and to equity during the first and last two years of high school and investigated whether such organizational factors explain the results of the earlier study. It found that although students learn somewhat less in the last two years than in the first two years, several features of the social and academic organization of high schools are strongly associated with learning in both periods

The Relative Importance of Home and School in the Development of Literacy Skills for Middle-Grade Students.

Variations in the home environments of poor and middle-income children affect their literacy development, which leads to substantial differences in reading ability and behavior. Schools can mediate influences from home through the conditions that they foster and the instructional policies and procedures they promote. The result of schools efforts may either ameliorate or magnify the inequities in reading development related to family economic conditions. This study tests these contentions in middle-grade schools by using a nationally representative sample of poor and middle-class eighth graders from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). Home and school effects on our measure of literacy development--a standardized test of reading comprehension--are explored with multilevel methods (hierarchical linear modeling). While homes exert an important influence on this outcome, findings focusing on schools and classrooms are emphasized. The study also highlights school conditions and policies that foster social equity in the literacy development of young adolescents. Implications of current school reform efforts are discussed.

Course-Taking, Equity, and Mathematics Learning: Testing the Constrained Curriculum Hypothesis in U.S. Secondary Schools.

This study investigated how the organization of the mathematics curriculum in U.S. high schools affects how much students learn in that subject. The study used data on the background and academic proficiency of 3,056 high school seniors in 123 public high schools from the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics. These data were linked with information from students’ high school transcripts and with information from their high schools about courses offered during that period. To accommodate the nested structure of the data and research questions, we used Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) methods, including a subroutine (HLM2PV) that simplifies the proper use of multiple plausible values estimates for NAEP proficiency scores. Results provide support for our hypothesis about curriculum constraint: Students learn more in schools that offer them a narrow curriculum composed mostly of academic courses. Difficulties in conducting school effects studies using NAEP proficiency score outcomes, particularly the procedures for estimating plausible values, are discussed.

Reconstituting Schools: "Testing" the "Theory of Action.".

This article identifies key elements of the “theory of action” embodied in reconstitution reforms and examines them in light of findings acquired from a two-year study that documents what happened when a particular rendition of reconstitution was enacted and implemented. The evidence from this study suggests that the “theory of action” embedded in reconstitution reforms may be seriously, if not fatally flawed. On every critical count, the dominant patterns of implementation ran counter to the major premises (and promises) of the policy. This article considers alternative interpretations of the data and suggests directions for future research.

Sociocultural Correlates of Disciplinary Exclusion Among Students With Emotional, Behavioral, and Learning Disabilities in the SEELS National Dataset:

Suspension and expulsion are widely used to exclude students with and without disabilities who present problem behaviors in school, despite contentious legal debate and evidence associating these methods with high ecological stress and problematic developmental outcomes. Using selected participant data (N = 1,824) from the SEELS study, the study authors entered multilevel predictors into logistic regression analyses to identify factors associated with higher likelihood of exclusion (HLE) among students in three high-exclusion disabilitygroups:emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD), other health impairment (OHI) with a diagnosis of attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and learning disability (LD). When the authors examined disability groups together, HLE was more likely among students with EBD and ADHD compared to students with LD. HLE was also associated with African American ethnicity, older age, male gender, low socio-economic status, multiple school changes, urban schooling, and having parents who expressed low school satisfaction. However, when the authors examined the disability groups individually, predictor profiles varied markedly by disability type.The authors discuss implications for school programs.

Who (Else) Is the Teacher? Cautionary Notes on Teacher Accountability Systems

This article examines a premise underlying teacher accountability policies, namely, that annual student learning gains can be attributed to individual teachers. After analyzing data collected in fourth‐ and fifth‐grade reading and mathematics classes in 18 schools, the authors identify forms of instructional design that rely on multiple teachers. These designs—simultaneous, supplemental, and sequential—were pervasive, particularly in higher‐poverty schools, raising policy‐relevant questions about holding individual teachers responsible for student learning. The authors further argue that accountability systems that focus on individual teachers might adversely affect other promising school reform efforts, such as teacher collaboration and data‐based decision making.

Developing Historical Reading and Writing with Adolescent Readers: Effects on Student Learning.

Abstract In this study, the effects of a disciplinary reading and writing curriculum intervention with professional development are shared. We share our instructional approach and provide writing outcomes for struggling adolescent readers who read at or below basic proficiency levels, as well as writing outcomes for proficient and advanced readers. Findings indicate significant and meaningful growth of about 0.5 of 1 standard deviation in students’ abilities to write historical arguments and in the length of their essays for all participants, including struggling readers. Our study also considers teacher implementation of the curriculum intervention. We found that teachers who were most faithful to the underlying constructs of our curriculum intervention also made successful adaptations of the lesson materials.

“Where Is the Action?” Challenges to Studying the Teaching of Reading in Elementary Classrooms:

The authors argue that part of the difficulty in studying the teaching of reading in elementary classrooms is determining where “the action” occurs in reading instruction. Based on their 5-year longitudinal study of fourth- and fifth-grade teachers in moderate- and high-poverty elementary schools, they describe three challenges: (a) determining key factors in the complex instructional environment that should be the focus of study, (b) determining who teaches reading to specific students, and (c) determining the boundaries of reading instruction or when it occurs during the school day and year. The authors argue that these challenges, although not insurmountable, are difficult to resolve and that they are becoming more pervasive because of current policies that promote high-stakes accountability.

The effect of block scheduling high school mathematics courses on student achievement and teachers' use of time: implications for educational productivity

Abstract Block scheduling involves the reallocation of instructional time into longer class sessions to encourage more active teaching strategies, reduce fragmentation inherent in single-period schedules, and improve student performance. To the degree that such policies reallocate existing resources to realize higher levels of desired educational outcomes, the goal of productivity can be served. Despite widespread experimentation with various forms of block scheduling, there is conflicting evidence on the impact of these innovations on student achievement, and little evidence of their effect on classroom practice. This study explores these relationships. More specifically, the study draws on data from the National Education Longitudinal Study: 1988 to estimate the impact of block-scheduled mathematics courses on tenth-grade student achievement and teachers use of class time. Findings suggest that while block scheduling is positively associated with teachers use of multiple instructional methods and more individualized instruction, this scheduling reform has a negative impact on students tenth-grade mathematics scores, controlling for other factors. Implications for educational productivity are discussed.

Maternal Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy and Infant Social, Mental, and Motor Development

Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy is a significant social problem associated with developmental difficulties in young children. Child developmental and behavioral characteristics were examined from the 9-month data point of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies—Birth Cohort, a prospective nationally representative study. Several findings indicate linear patterns between the amount of prenatal alcohol dosage and sensory regulation, mental, and motor development outcomes. Undesirable social engagement and child interaction were found to be statistically significant at the prenatal alcohol level of one to three drinks per week. Children exposed to four or more drinks per week showed statistically significant and clinically passive behavior on three sensory regulation variables.