Opportunity to Learn: The Impacts and Policy Implications

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between students’ opportunity to learn (OIL) and their science achievement. The data are of 623 8th-graders enrolled in five public schools in Los Angeles, California. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze OTL variables at two levels of instructional processes: the classroom level and the student level. Students’ science test scores are based on a written test and a hands-on test. OTL effects on these two test scores were studied to see whether the effects differ depending on how science achievement is measured. It was found that OTL variables were significant predictors of both written and hands-on test scores even after students’ general ability level, ethnicity, and gender were controlled. The OTL effects varied by test format (written test and hands-on test). Content exposure was the most significant predictor of students’ written test scores, and quality of instructional delivery was the most significant predictor of the hands-on test scores. In conclusion, OTL variables are not unitary constructs; they are multidimensional, and different dimensions of OTL should be measured simultaneously to properly document the OTL-achievement relation.

Absenteeism and Beyond: Instructional Time Loss and Consequences

“…Greenwood 199183. Bloom 1971Fisher and Berliner 1985;Gettinger 1984Gettinger , 1989Rosenshine 1979;Walberg 1988;Wang 1998;Wiley andHarnishfeger 1974 84. Frederick andWalberg 1980, 85.…”

Příležitosti k učení: odlišná/různá pojetí konceptu a jeho výzkumné využití

“…(Brewer & Stacz, 1996;Stevens, Wiltz, & Bailey, 1998;Wang, 1998). Zmiňované výzkumy shodně ukazují, že jednotlivé dimenze příležitostí k učení představují indikátory, které mohou ovlivňovat školní úspěšnost žáků.…”

A Case Study of The Integration of Environmental Education in the Primary School Curriculum

“…Most of the existing opportunity to learn studies are based on American and European schools and focus mostly on Science and Mathematics. Yet, little is known about what actually happens in many classrooms, causing some students to achieve and others not to achieve [McDonnell, 1995;Porter, 1989;Stevens, 1993;Wang, 1998]. This is the problem we sought to investigate with respect to the teaching and learning of environmental education in the South African context.…”