Study of Academic Instruction for Disadvantaged Students: What Is Taught, and How, to the Children of Poverty. Interim Report from a Two-Year Investigation

摘要

A major federal study of mathematics and literacy instruction in schools that serve the children of poverty is currently under way in search of more effective practice. The study is addressing three questions: (1) What departures from conventional wisdom are being tried in schools serving the children of poverty; (2) Which of these approaches show promise, either in their own right or in combination with more traditional approaches, for boosting students' mastery of advanced and basic skills; and (3) What combination of factors in the school, district, and state supports the introduction of promising instructional approaches. The report, the second to emerge from the study, provides preliminary answers to these questions, by describing current practices in first, third, and fifth grade classrooms in fifteen elementary schools that serve large numbers of children from low-income families. The interim report presents descriptive results from the first of two years of data collection; it does not include an analysis of outcomes.