| Stephen Meyer
University of Chicago
Understanding the Impact of Organizational Differentiation in High-Poverty Schools: An Integrated Model of its Consequences and Effects on Student Achievement
FINAL REPORT:
This dissertation explores the effects of organizational differentiation associated with federal compensatory education programs serving a national sample of students in elementary schools. Specifically, it considers the impact of organizational differentiation on students who participate in Title I programs, in classrooms where Title I services are more and less differentiated from regular school programs. Analyses using data from Prospects: The Congressionally-Mandated Study of Educational Growth and Opportunity inform an understanding of the mechanisms through which student learning is affected by categorical program organizational differentiation.
The analyses provide information about the nature and extent of organizational differentiation in Title I schools, and examine the relationship between organizational differentiation and student achievement as mediated by three primary mechanisms: 1) student learning opportunities; 2) aspects of the social and educational environment; and 3) student psychological characteristics. The results reveal a range of differentiating practices in Title I classrooms as well as their consequences, most centrally, for student learning opportunities. Title I classrooms substantially differentiated both the instructional arrangements and the instructional content offered to Title I participants in both reading/language arts and math. Indices of organizational differentiation, such as Title I pullout practices and differentiated instructional content were generally associated with fewer overall learning opportunities, including reduced instructional time and homework assignment. There were inconsistent and fewer relationships between organizational differentiation and aspects of the social and educational classroom environment, and student psychological characteristics.
Comparisons of schoolwide programs and regular Title I schools suggest that schoolwide programs were generally less differentiated in terms of both instructional organization and content. Students in schoolwide programs tended to have increased learning opportunities, to rate their classroom environment more favorably, and to report higher ratings of self-esteem.
Although the Title I achievement gap was substantial for both reading/language arts and math, models examining variation in achievement identified few aspects of organizational differentiation or its consequences that accounted for this achievement gap. These analyses reveal no substantial impact of organizational differentiation and its consequences on student achievement; however they highlight the tendency of Title I organizational differentiation to limit learning opportunities andÑto a lesser extentÑfoster differences in classroom social/environmental factors and student psychological characteristics. Implications for policy and for future research are discussed.
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