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Classroom climate, rigorous instruction and curriculum, and students' interactions in urban middle schools

Matsumura, LC and Slater, SC and Crosson, A (2008) Classroom climate, rigorous instruction and curriculum, and students' interactions in urban middle schools. Elementary School Journal, 108 (4). 293 - 312. ISSN 0013-5984

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Abstract

In this study we investigated the relation of rigorous instructional practices and teachers' efforts to create a respectful, collaborative learning environment to students' positive behavior toward one another and to the rate and quality of students' participation in classroom discussions. Full class period (i.e., 50-minute) observations of English language arts and mathematics lessons were conducted in 34 sixth- and seventh-grade classrooms in five high-poverty, urban, public middle schools (N = 608 students, 64 observations). Raters coded each lesson for the affective qualities of the classroom environment, the rigor of curricular tasks including guidelines for student work, and the quality of teacher-student verbal exchanges. We applied multiple regression techniques to explain predictive relations between classroom climate, instructional quality, and student behavior. Results indicated that the degree of respect that teachers showed students significantly predicted students' behavior toward one another. The presence of explicit rules in the classroom for respectful, prosocial behavior also significantly predicted the number of students who participated in discussions. Further, the quality of students' participation in class discussions-that is, the degree to which they built on other students' contributions and explained and supported their responses-was predicted by teachers pressing students to explain their thinking in discussions and by the rigor of the questions posed to students in the discussion. © 2008 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.


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Details

Item Type: Article
Status: Published
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Matsumura, LClclare@pitt.eduLCLARE
Slater, SC
Crosson, A
Date: 1 March 2008
Date Type: Publication
Journal or Publication Title: Elementary School Journal
Volume: 108
Number: 4
Page Range: 293 - 312
DOI or Unique Handle: 10.1086/528973
Schools and Programs: School of Education > Learning Sciences and Policy
Refereed: Yes
ISSN: 0013-5984
Date Deposited: 05 Oct 2015 18:41
Last Modified: 02 Feb 2019 14:56
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/26186

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