Relationship Between Grade Span Configuration and Academic Achievement

Abstract

Dove, M. J., Pearson, L. C., & Hooper, H. (2010). Relationship between grade span configuration and academic achievement. Journal of Advanced Academics, 21, 272-298.In an effort to address the NCLB-mandated testing process, one of the issues to be considered is how best to configure student populations to maximize all aspects of the educational setting while simultaneously maximizing student achievement; one aspect is grade span configuration. We examined the relationship between the grade span configuration of all schools in Arkansas attended by sixth-grade students and the academic achievement of the combined population of students as measured by the Arkansas Benchmark Examination. We found no relationship between grade span configuration and academic achievement as measured by the Arkansas Benchmark Examination for sixth-grade students. However, the nonsignificant findings do not negate the importance of the study. The results imply that there are other factors that are affecting scores in the middles grades. The results of the study also revealed that over the time span examined, mathematics Benchmark achievement rose but the results for literacy were stagnant. These results suggest that newly implemented practices or other factors may have improved mathematics achievement, but not achievement in literacy.Grade span configuration alone does not account for sixth-grade students' academic achievement as measured by the Arkansas BenchmarkExamination. Decisions about campus configurations include other factors such as projected enrollments, transportation costs, size of schools, school goals, fiscal constraints, political tensions, geographic realities, and financial accountability. As student populations shift, educational leaders can look for grade span configurations that best fit their community culture and current facilities, focusing financial resources on other means of improving academic achievement.

Grade configuration is associated with school-level standardized test pass rates for sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students

“…Similarly, Poncelet and Metis Associates (2004) found that sixth graders in Kindergarten through eighth-grade schools in Cleveland city demonstrated greater mathematics and reading achievement than students in sixth-through eighth-grade schools. In contrast, Dove, Pearson, and Hooper (2010) found no relationship between grade configuration and mathematics or literacy scores for sixth-grade students in Arkansas middle schools.…”

The Impact of Poverty, School Enrollment, and Ninth-Grade Transition Programs on Promotion

“…One-room, ungraded schools merged into larger schools, introducing the graded system in the mid-1800's, and grades one through eight were usually the norm (Dove, Hooper, & Pearson, 2010). The evolution of grade configurations from this one room schoolhouse model has been hastened by several factors including economics, content development, and growing knowledge of the varied instructional and developmental needs of students.…”

“…Our traditional structure of primary-secondary school is based in 19 th Century economics where the goal was to transition students into the workforce (Hough, 1995). Dove, et al (2010), contend that the change from an agricultural society to an industrial society hastened the need for more education in order to secure better employment. The goals of education were keeping pace with economic changes, and these circumstances became the primary catalysts for changes in grade spans.…”