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Stratification, skill grouping, and learning to read in first grade

Condron, Dennis J.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1113411746

Abstract Details

2005, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Sociology.
Curriculum differentiation – providing different instruction to groups of students based on their skills or perceived abilities – is a practice that affects a vast majority of students in the U.S. For sociologists, the role of curriculum differentiation in unequal educational opportunities and outcomes is directly relevant to theoretical perspectives on education and stratification. Do schools reduce inequality, or do they reproduce or even exacerbate inequality? In this theoretical context, I focus on one common type of curriculum differentiation: Within-classroom skill grouping for reading instruction during elementary school. Analyzing first-grade data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort, I find evidence that socioeconomically disadvantaged, Black, and Hispanic students tend to be placed into lower-ranked reading groups more often than their advantaged counterparts, primarily due to disparities in skills that are already present when school begins. Improving upon past research, I compare the reading gains of students placed into differentially-ranked groups to those of similar students whose teachers do not use skill grouping. This analytic strategy reduces the likelihood that characteristics of students other than their group placement bias the estimates of the effects of group placement on learning. Findings suggest that high-grouped students gain more, and low-grouped students gain less, than similar students in non-grouped classrooms. In addition, within-student analyses across kindergarten and first grade suggest that students learn more the year they are placed into a high-ranked group, and less the year they are placed into a low-ranked group, compared to the year in which their teacher did not use skill grouping. Finally, I assess the role of skill grouping in the early emergence of socioeconomic and racial gaps in learning. Evidence that skill grouping is to blame for such gaps is scant, but limitations of the data make it difficult to draw conclusions. I discuss the implications of these findings for theoretical perspectives on education and stratification and for contemporary policies aimed at reducing gaps in learning. For scholars of educational stratification, as well as parents, policy makers, and educators concerned about inequality, skill grouping within elementary classrooms should rank high among school-related practices considered to promote disparities in skills.
Douglas Downey (Advisor)
133 p.
skill grouping; ability grouping; early childhood education; stratification

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Condron, D. J. (2005). Stratification, skill grouping, and learning to read in first grade [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1113411746

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Condron, Dennis. Stratification, skill grouping, and learning to read in first grade. 2005. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1113411746.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Condron, Dennis. "Stratification, skill grouping, and learning to read in first grade." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1113411746

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1113411746
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© 2005, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.