The relationships among between-class ability grouping, teaching practices, and mathematics achievement: a large-scale empirical analysis

ABSTRACT

The knowledge base on various forms of structuring students’ learning by ability grouping is more robust than that on teachers’ instructional practices being implemented within these groupings. The present study examines if student-reported mathematics teachers’ instructional practices vary among schools with different degrees of implementing between-class ability grouping and if between-class ability grouping moderates the relationship between these practices and students’ mathematics achievement. International data from 281,591 fifteen-year-old students and 11,765 principals were analysed. One-way ANOVA showed that students perceived greater implementation of teachers’ instructional practices in schools with more between-class ability grouping. However, hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) results showed that between-class ability grouping did not moderate the relationship between teachers’ instructional practices and students’ mathematics achievement. These results imply that it is more important to examine the relationship between teachers’ instructional practices and students’ achievement in homogenous ability classes vis-à-vis that between ability grouping and students’ achievement per se.

KEYWORDS:

• Ability grouping
• teachers’ instructional practices
• mathematics achievement
• PISA
• secondary schools

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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Notes

1. (535 + 323)/5,067 * 100.

2. (1,868 + 2,693)/4,594 * 100.

3. All post-hoc pairwise comparisons were significant at the.05 level.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cheng Yong Tan

Cheng Yong Tan (PhD) is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. His research interests comprise family and school influences on student academic achievement, and how familial factors moderate the effects of school processes on student achievement. Contact details: Faculty of Education, Meng Wah Complex Room 519, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong; Tel: [phone]; [email protected]

Clive Dimmock

Clive Dimmock (PhD) is Professor in Professional Learning and Leadership in the School of Education, University of Glasgow. His research interests are learning-centred leadership; connectivity between learning-teaching, professional development/leadership, and whole school re-design; cross-cultural comparisons between Anglo-American and Asian systems of schooling; the roles of policymakers and school leaders in promoting equity across school systems; and problems arising from disconnections between research, policy and practice. Contact details: School of Education, St Andrew’s Building, 11 Eldon St, University of Glasgow, G3 6NH Glasgow, UK; Tel: [phone]; [email protected]