Does ability grouping matter? A cross-classified random effects model of children's reading growth over the first two years of school.

Prior analyses of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K: National Center for Education Statistics, 2000; 2002) data indicate that children enter kindergarten with vastly different reading skills and degrees of school readiness. These differences appear to be related to family and home variables such as ethnicity, parental education level, and socioeconomic status. However, classroom and school characteristics also impact students' academic growth during the elementary school years.

This study described the trajectory of first time kindergarteners' reading growth and explored the personal, instructional, and environmental factors that influence students' reading growth during their first two years of school. In addition, several analyses examined the association of achievement grouping practices, as well as student and school-level variables, on individual change in early reading skills during this time period. A three-level HLM model of reading growth provided estimates of student-level and school-level variables that affect reading growth. Two-level gain score HLM models of reading growth over kindergarten and first grade, and two cross-classified random effects models were utilized to investigate the effects of achievement grouping in the primary grades.

Several student level characteristics (including ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and kindergarten entry age) and school level characteristics (including percentage of minority students, percentage of free lunch students, and sector of the school) were related to students' reading growth over the first two years of school. The relationship between initial reading ability and reading growth was slightly negative during the school year, but positive during the summer months. The frequency with which teachers report using achievement grouping was related to reading growth in kindergarten, but not in first grade. Kindergarten teachers reported using achievement grouping less frequently than first grade teachers. These findings suggest that achievement grouping may have positive effects for kindergarten students of all ability levels.

REFERENCES

National Center for Education Statistics. (2000). ECLS-K Base Year Restricted-Use Data Files and Electronic Codebook. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2002). ECLS-K First-grade Restricted-Use Data Files and Electronic Codebook. (NCES 2002-128). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

D. Betsy McCoach, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in residence at the University of Connecticut, where she teaches courses in measurement and statistics. She completed her doctorate in educational psychology with concentrations in gifted education, school psychology, and quantitative research methodology at the University of Connecticut's Neag School of Education. Her areas of research interest include the underachievement of gifted students, instrument design and analysis, quantitative research methodology, and issues related to the identification and assessment of high ability students. E-mail: [e-mail]