Selected Findings

Survey of High School curricular Options requested information regarding the policies and practices schools use in structuring their curricula to meet the needs of students with different abilities, learning rates, interests, or motivations. The data were gathered from a national representative sample of 912 public secondary schools in fall 1993.

• Most public secondary schools (86 percent) reported offering courses in their core curriculum that are differentiated in terms of content, quantity or intensity of work, or expectations regarding independent work. However, only 15 percent of schools described themselves as having traditional "tracking" policies, reporting that they offer differentiated courses and do differentiated grouping in their core curriculum. The majority of schools (71 percent) indicated that they offer differentiated courses, but give students open access to any course provided they have taken the prerequisite course(s).
• The remaining 14 percent of schools indicated that they offer a variety of undifferentiated courses in their core curriculum and allow students open access to any course provided they have taken the prerequisite(s) (Table 2).



• States and/or school districts have the most influence over schools' approaches to providing instruction to students of differing abilities. Almost three-fifths of public secondary schools (59 percent) indicated that these agencies greatly influence their approach. Principals were reported to greatly influence the instructional approach in 47 percent of schools. A small proportion of schools (13 percent) indicated that parents greatly influence their approach to providing instruction (Table 3 ).



• Over half of all public secondary schools (57 percent) reported that they had modified their approach to curriculum differentiation in the past 5 years. About half (49 percent) also reported that they are considering modifications to their approach (Table 4).
• Schools reported that during the 1993 fall term 14 percent of all l0th-graders took math courses designed for students of widely differing abilities. A higher percentage (28 percent) of students were enrolled in English courses designed for widely differing abilities.



• The remaining l0th-graders were in math or English courses designed for more discrete levels of abilities. In math, 27 percent of students were enrolled in courses designed for students of higher abilities, 47 percent took courses for students of average abilities, and 16 percent took courses for students of lower abilities. In English, 23 percent of students were enrolled in courses designed for students of higher abilities, 39 percent took courses for students of average abilities, and 9 percent took courses for students of lower abilities (Tables 5 and 6).



• In 29 percent of schools the teacher's seniority level was reported to have no influence over the assignment of teachers to courses, and 20 percent of schools also indicated that the ability level of students in the course had no effect on teacher assignments. The greatest influences on teacher assignments that schools reported were the teacher's knowledge of the subject matter (73 percent) and the teacher's teaching skills (66 percent). In the majority of schools (75 percent), the principal was the individual with the most influence over teacher assignments (Table 7).

For the 86 percent of schools that offer differentiated courses in math or English:

• A large percentage of schools reported some student mobility between ability levels in math and English courses after 10th grade. About 48 percent indicated that students are sometimes moved to a higher ability-level math or English course. Another 14 percent reported that this often occurs. However, 17 percent of schools reported that students are almost never moved to a higher level English course, while 12 percent indicated that students are almost never moved to a higher level math course (Tables 8 and 9).



• Shifting to lower ability courses after completion of l0th grade also occurs. In math, 50 percent of schools indicated that students are sometimes moved to a lower ability-level course, while 39 percent indicated that this sometimes occurs in English. Less than 3 percent of schools reported that this often occurs in math or English. However, 26 percent of schools reported that students are almost never moved to a lower level English course, and a smaller percentage (16 percent) indicated that students are almost never moved to a lower level math course (Tables 10 and 11).



• Whether or not schools assign students to courses based on ability, often the same students are enrolled in the highest ability-level courses in math and English. In 43 percent of all schools, 76 percent or more of 10th-graders who took high ability math also took high ability English; an additional 15 percent of schools reported that from 51-75 percent of l0th-graders in high ability math also took high ability English. Twenty-three percent of secondary schools that offer differentiated courses in math offer no ability levels in English (Table 12).



• Given a list of potential influences on schools' policies regarding the placement of students into differentiated courses, only 14 percent of schools reported that standardized test scores influence their placement to a great extent. Another 16 percent indicated that principals greatly influence student placement. The greatest influences that schools reported on students' placement included prerequisite course(s) taken by students (66 percent), teacher recommendations (57 percent), and students' previous grades (52 percent) (Table 13).

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