Blazing New Trails - Connexions

186 CRITICAL ISSUES IN PROMOTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Table 3. Teachers’ Item Scores on Principles of Nongradedness: Curriculum.
C. Curriculum N Mean SD
1. Goals by student with teacher 72 2.10 0.735
2. Individual curriculum 70 2.36 0.566
3. Integrated themes 71 2.31 0.074
4. Individual sequence 70 1.96 0.788
5. Concepts/content 71 2.23 0.680
6. Individual interests 70 2.27 0.700
Total 13.23
The category of Instruction had the highest total mean score, 15.54, of all the
categories and the Different Styles assumption score, 2.80, was the highest for all the
assumptions in the survey (see Table 4).
Table 4. Teachers’ Item Scores on Principles of Nongradedness: Instruction.
D. Instruction N Mean SD
1. Plan for each children 72 2.53 0.556
2. Teacher role 71 2.58 0.552
3. Different styles 71 2.80 0.491
4. Success/failure 70 2.63 0.516
5. Process/product 71 2.59 0.523
6. Improve/compete 71 2.41 0.623
Total 15.54
The Materials category had a mean score of 14.52 which indicates a high degree of
agreement with the Principles of Nongradedness (see Table 5).
Table 5. Teachers’ Item Scores on Principles of Nongradedness: Materials.
E. Materials N Mean SD
1. Variety 72 2.47 0.731
2. Reading range 72 2.67 0.605
3. Alternate method 72 2.46 0.604
4. Stimulating environment 71 2.17 0.717
5. Exploration and experimentation 71 2.25 0.788
6. Appropriate level 72 2.50 0.581
Total 14.52
The category of Assessment’s total scores of 14.40 indicates a high degree of
agreement with the Principles of Nongradedness. The student involvement score of 2.15 had
the lowest mean of the six assumptions in this category and one of the lowest in the entire
survey (see Table 6).
Table 6. Teachers’ Item Scores on Principles of Nongradedness: Assessment.
F. Assessment N Mean SD
1. All areas of child development 71 2.46 0.530
2. Continuous diagnostic 72 2.60 0.597
3. Student Involvement 72 2.15 0.705
4. Potential achievement 72 2.35 0.695
5. Irregular growth 72 2.49 0.556
6. Multiple data sources 71 2.35 0.647
Total 14.40