How students are sorted into classrooms by skill level can affect their achievement as much as the content they are taught¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r? · q2
Currency · newest study 2014 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? The report claims that classroom sorting by skill level can have as much effect on student achievement as the curriculum content taught. → Elaine Allensworth and Takako Nomi 2014

Evidence¶

Elaine Allensworth and Takako Nomi 2014¶

Elaine Allensworth and Takako Nomi. (2014). Skill-Based Sorting in the Era of College Prep for All. University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/skill-based-sorting-era-college-prep-all-costs-and-benefits

q2 · i? · causal · r?

This is the release's headline summary of the report's comparison of Chicago's ability-sorted and de-sorted algebra reforms. The statement is hedged ("can have as much of an effect") and no effect size is printed in the release.

"How students are sorted into classrooms by skill level can have as much of an effect on their achievement as the content they are taught, according to a new report by the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Between- or within-class homogeneous ability grouping has a small negative effect on low-ability primary students but no effect on other students — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Fish pond effects: above-norm students became more likely to fail algebra when their skills were low relative to classroom peers after sorting — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• When classes are sorted by skill level, low-skilled students are at higher risk of being in disruptive classrooms, weakening their instructional environment — related
• Below-norm students' pass rates improved post-policy because their skills relative to classroom peers improved under sorting — related
• Sorting by ability affects grades and pass rates differently from test scores: high-skilled students' grades and pass rates decline while low-skilled students' grades improve — related
• Below-norm students' algebra test scores improved despite having lower-skill peers post-policy, consistent with additional supports offsetting compositional decline — related
• Average test scores are higher when classes are sorted by skill, driven by large learning gains for high-skilled students and slightly lower scores for low-skilled students — related
• Students with the weakest skills relative to their peers need close monitoring and support regardless of whether their achievement is low or high relative to a national comparison — a broader claim this one bears on
• The New Math movement failed because its foundational concepts were designed to highlight the domain's organization with little regard to how it was to be learned or taught — related