Blazing New Trails - Connexions

188 CRITICAL ISSUES IN PROMOTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Table 9. Principals’ Item Scores on Principles of Nongradedness: Curriculum.
C. Curriculum N Mean SD
1. Goals by student with teacher 19 2.11 0.937
2. Individual curriculum 19 2.21 0.855
3. Integrated themes 19 2.37 0.895
4. Individual sequence 18 1.94 0.938
5. Concepts/content 19 2.26 0.872
6. Individual interests 18 2.11 8.832
Total 13.00
The Instruction category was one of two in which the principals total score exceeded
15.00. The assumption, Different Styles, had the highest mean score of all 36 assumptions in
the survey (see Table 10).
Table 10. Principals’ Item Scores on Principles of Nongradedness: Instruction.
D. Instruction N Mean SD
1. Plan for each child 19 2.47 0.697
2. Teacher role 19 2.58 0.607
3. Different styles 19 2.74 0.562
4. Success/failure 18 2.50 0.618
5. Process/product 19 2.53 0.612
6. Improve/compete 19 2.42 0.607
Total 15.24
The Materials category had next to the lowest total scores for the principals; however,
the total of 13.92 was above the 13.00 which indicated a high degree of agreement with the
Principles of Nongradedness. The Stimulating Environment assumption had next to the
lowest mean of the 36 assumptions on the survey (see Table 11).
Table 11. Principals’ Item Scores on Principles of Nongradedness: Materials.
E. Materials N Mean SD
1. Variety 19 2.32 0.749
2, Reading range 19 2.63 0.684
3. Alternate method 19 2.42 0.769
4. Stimulating environment 18 2.00 0.970
5. Exploration and experimentation 19 2.16 0.958
5. Appropriate level 18 2.39 0.778
Total 13.92
The Assessment category score of 14.35 indicated a high degree of agreement with the
Principles of Nongradedness. The mean scores of the six assumptions were similar.
Table 12. Principals’ Item Scores on Principles of Nongradedness: Assessment.
F. Assessment N Mean SD
1. All areas 19 2.37 0.761
2. Continuous diagnostic 19 2.58 0.597
3. Student involvement 19 2.32 0.820
4. Potential achievement 19 2.37 0.895
5. Irregular growth 18 2.39 0.698
6. Multiple data sources 19 2.32 0.671
Total 14.35