Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D. in Education

Department

Leadership and Counselor Education

First Advisor

Dennis A. Bunch

Second Advisor

Kerry Holmes

Third Advisor

Ryan Niemeyer

Relational Format

dissertation/thesis

Abstract

The present study investigated the effects of departmentalized and self-contained classroom structures on student achievement of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students in Mississippi schools. Historical MCT2 proficiency level percentages were collected from the Mississippi Department of Education website for the following school years: 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012, and 2012-2013. This data was used to calculate a revised Quality of Distribution Index (QDI-R) for each school included in the study. Using the QDI-R, differences were generated between school year (SY) 2009-2010 and SY 2010-2011; between SY 2010-2011 and SY 2011-2012; and between SY 2011-2012 and SY 2012-2013. This yielded three data points for measuring student achievement in the study. An email questionnaire was distributed to schools in order to determine which structure was being utilized in each school for each grade level. Follow up phone calls were made to those failing to respond to the email request. Once this information was collected, the population of the study included 247 schools serving fourth grade, 242 schools serving fifth grade, and 207 schools serving sixth grade. A one-way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted for determining if a difference existed between the two structures for each grade level. Findings revealed no significant difference between structures in language arts for grades four, five, or six. There was also no evidence of a significant difference between structures for grade four and five mathematics. A significant difference was found between the two structures for grade six mathematics.

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