Publication Date

12-2017

Date of Final Oral Examination (Defense)

10-12-2017

Type of Culminating Activity

Dissertation

Degree Title

Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction

Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies

Supervisory Committee Chair

Jonathan Brendefur, Ph.D.

Supervisory Committee Member

Carl F. Siebert, Ph.D.

Supervisory Committee Member

Sara Hagenah, Ph.D.

Supervisory Committee Member

Sherry Dismuke, Ed.D.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Abstract

Questions involving the equitable distribution of mathematics instruction have been addressed since at least the early 1990’s. Since this time, little research has been conducted on the antecedents and effects of grouping elementary school students within homogenous mathematics groups. The purpose of this quantitative study was to compare the mathematics achievement of 4th grade elementary school students who were grouped in either homogenous or heterogeneous mathematics classes. A causal-comparative design was utilized in an attempt to find relationships between the independent variables of mathematics grouping level, sex, and ethnicity and the dependent variable of mathematics achievement. Data were analyzed using independent-sample t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a multiple linear regression. Grouping was found to have little statistical significance on the mathematical achievement of 4th grade students within this study. The independent variables of sex and ethnicity were significantly associated with the dependent variable of mathematical achievement. There are many opportunities to further study the antecedents and effects of grouping elementary school students within homogenous mathematics groups. Other areas of research are: 1) what factors are used to group students into mathematics ability groups within elementary schools, 2) what factors determines how teachers are assigned to teach different levels of mathematics within elementary schools, and 3) at what grade level does sorting begin in mathematics?

DOI

https://doi.org/10.18122/B23X5R

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