Schools with high proportions of low-income students, large schools, and high-mobility schools are more likely to have incoherent grade-level curricula¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 1998 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2003: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? After controlling for prior school achievement, high-poverty schools, large schools, and high-mobility schools are much more likely to have incoherent grade-level curricula. → Julia B. Smith 1998

Evidence¶

Julia B. Smith 1998¶

Julia B. Smith, BetsAnn Smith, Anthony S. Bryk. (1998). Setting the Pace: Opportunities to Learn in Chicago's Elementary Schools. Consortium on Chicago School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/setting-pace-opportunities-learn-chicago-public-elementary-schools

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Analysis of grade-level coherence measured as similarity in math content coverage among teachers within the same grade. In low-coherence schools, students might receive the third-grade curriculum two years running or encounter material they are unprepared to tackle.

"even after we controlled for prior school achievement, we found that schools with high proportions of impoverished families are much more likely to have incoherent curricula, as are large schools and schools with high levels of student mobility."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• High-poverty Chicago schools show instructional pacing that flattens out around fourth grade, while mixed-income schools keep pace with ITBS norms — related
• Smaller schools and schools with lower student mobility show significantly stronger instructional pacing even after controlling for prior achievement and poverty — related