Contextual Systems Model (CSM): child/family and school/schooling as interrelated systems¶
Theory · All theories
Evidence · no claims cited
Description¶
Pianta and Walsh's (1996) Contextual Systems Model, presented in the review as an improvement over earlier models, is based on Ford and Lerner's Developmental System Theory. "The CSM involves two interrelated systems, the Child/Family system and the School/Schooling system", with time as an underlying relation affecting both. The review uses it as the framework for organizing recent studies of minority underachievement in mathematics and argues it reframes at-risk children as an education-wide problem rather than a particular group's problem.
Design Implications¶
Context¶
Requirements¶
- Attention to relationships between child and family and schooling and the other individuals and institutions involved in schooling, including better communication between the two systems
Constraints¶
- The review notes the model is not related to any subject in particular, and that hazards such as poverty and peer rejection exert a regulatory influence on children's development as an organized system
Target Learners¶
- children at risk and, by the review's extension, minority students generally
Target Learning Objectives¶
- understanding development and underachievement in school contexts, including mathematics
Claims¶
Related Theories¶
- Holistic paradigm: underachievement as a multi-factor, multi-level phenomenon
- Bioecological Model of Human Development
- Deficit paradigm: minority underachievement explained by deficits the child brings to school
- Cultural Difference paradigm: underachievement explained by mismatch between school and students' cultures
- Reyes and Stanic's five-aspect model of differences in mathematics achievement
Examples¶
Key Sources¶
- Vilma Mesa. (1998). A Review of Literature on Under Achievement of Minorities in Mathematics. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED428113
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
theory |
title |
Contextual Systems Model (CSM): child/family and school/schooling as interrelated systems |
description |
Pianta and Walsh's (1996) Contextual Systems Model, presented in the review as an improvement over earlier models, is based on Ford and Lerner's Developmental System Theory. |
status |
review |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-09-27 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — vilma-mesa-1998 |
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