CHAPTER 2 EXAMINING PUPIL ATTAINMENT AND PUPIL PROGRESS WITHIN THE
2.4 An Overview of Educational Effectiveness Research
2.4.3 The Comprehensive Model of Educational Effectiveness
In The Comprehensive Model of Educational Effectiveness, Creemers (1994) incorporated Carroll‘s (1963) and Scheerens‘ (1992) models (Figure 2.2).
Context level characteristics Quality
Time Opportunity
Formal criteria Consistency Constancy Control
School level characteristics Educational quality
Organisational quality Time
Opportunity
Classroom level characteristics Curriculum
Grouping procedures Teacher behaviour
Time for learning Opportunity to learn
Pupil level characteristics Time on task
Opportunities used
Motivation
Aptitudes
Social background
Formal criteria Consistency Cohesion Constancy Control
Formal criteria Consistency Cohesion Constancy Control
Pupil achievement
Figure 2.2 – The Comprehensive Model of Educational Effectiveness (With slight adaptations from the model by Creemers, 1994:119)
In Figure 2.2 above, the pupil, the classroom, the school and the context level are now discernable. Conditions at the higher level of the school are considered to influence conditions at the lower level of the classroom. Similarly, factors at the pupil level such as motivation, aptitudes and social background are considered to influence conditions at the higher levels of the classroom and of the school. The context level is also considered to influence conditions at the classroom and school level At the context level, quality refers to the national assessment of pupils, the training of teachers and the funding of schools. Time and opportunity issues such as the scheduling of school time, the supervision of time scheduled (for teaching and for learning) and the provision of national curriculum guidelines are considered to influence educational policy.
At the school level, educational quality refers to factors such as agreement about instruction in classrooms, rules that regulate instruction and the school system or school policy for school evaluation. Organisational quality refers to school policy about intervention, supervision, professionalization and school culture. School level characteristics that refer to time include: the schedule of time, rules and agreement about the use of time as well as an orderly and quiet school environment. School level characteristics that refer to opportunity include: the school curriculum, consensus about the mission of the school as well as rules and agreement about the implementation of the school curriculum.
At the classroom level, quality refers to: the instruction of the curriculum, grouping procedures and teacher behaviour. In this way, Creemers (1994) acknowledged the central role of the teacher and the importance of the classroom level for pupil achievement. Quality of curricular instruction refers to: ordering of goals and content, structure and clarity of content, advanced organisers, evaluation, feedback and corrective instruction. Quality of grouping procedures refers to mastery learning, grouping by pupil ability and co-operative learning. These are viewed as dependent on differentiated material, evaluation, feedback and corrective instruction. The instructional quality of teachers is considered as reflected by behaviours such as:
classroom management, homework, goal setting, structuring content, clarity of presentation, questioning, immediate exercises, evaluation, feedback and corrective instruction. Time for learning and opportunity to learn are considered as inter-
dependent. Time for learning links with the opportunities made available for pupils to learn.
Creemers (1994) considered the levels above and below that of the classroom as reciprocal. The context, the school and the pupil level are considered to influence conditions at the meso level of the classroom. Creemers elaborated four criteria to describe the operation of effectiveness: consistency, cohesion, constancy and control.
These criteria refer to the quality of interaction between predominantly instructional processes at the level of the classroom and predominantly organisational processes at the level of the school. Consistency which operates at the context, school and classroom level is defined, in Creemers and Reezigt (1996:215-216), as: ―...conditions for effective instruction related to curricular materials, grouping procedures and teaching behaviour should be in line with each other.‖ Cohesion, which operates at the school and at the classroom level implies that teaching staff must exhibit effective teaching characteristics. However, it is not enough for teachers to exhibit effective teaching characteristics. Teachers must also teach effectively and do so regularly in and over time. This implies that effective instruction must be provided during the entirety of pupils‘ school career. Therefore, the school must also have and retain control on learning goals and the school climate. For example through assessment, monitoring and evaluation. The principle of consistency, as a more comprehensive mechanism central to the integration and operation of effectiveness conditions in schools has been tried and tested in a number of studies (de Jong, Westerhof & Kruiter, 2004; Driessen & Sleegers, 2000; Kyriakides et al., 2000). However, research shows little support that consistency is a predictor of pupil achievement (Driessen & Sleegers, 2000; Kyriakides, 2008). Furthermore, the criterion of cohesion, constancy and control have hardly been researched. A reason for this is possibly related to the challenge faced by researchers with regards to: the measurement of these criteria, their operational definitions and their analysis.
In spite of being the first model to describe the reciprocity of factors associated with educational effectiveness, The Comprehensive Model of Educational Effectiveness (Creemers, 1994) does have its limitations. This model is predominantly instructional and assumes the equal treatment of pupils (Jamieson & Wikely, 2000). The model also assumes that pupils learn in conformity with the instruction as delivered by teachers
(Thrupp, 1999). Pupil learning is described in broader terms as pupil achievement and not in more specific terms such as pupil attainment (pupil achievement at one point in time) and pupil progress (pupil achievement over time) This model does not account for the possible influence of teacher-bound processes, other than teacher behaviours, such as teacher beliefs (Campbell et al., 2004). The main criterion of consistency and the related criteria of cohesion, constancy and control may not be necessarily stable over time (Mortimore et al., 1988; Kyriakides, Campbell & Gagatsis, 2000). This model does not consider the possibility that differences, as well as similarity, in teacher behaviour and other teacher processes may be just as influential in conditioning effectiveness (Murphy & Gipp, 1996; Arnot et al., 1998) and that the effectiveness of teachers may not necessarily be consistent across subjects and over time (Campbell et al., 2004).