Eighth Grade Classrooms in Theory and Practice: The Gap Persists

Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated that a gap exists between the advocacy of educational innovations in the literature and the actual practice of these innovations in classrooms. The middle school movement has raised several questions concerning the implementation of recommended procedures in the middle grades. This study went beyond using paper and pencil instruments to gather data on classroom practice. Two lowinference observation instruments were used to compare core classrooms to departmental ones on the dimensions of climate, control, and teacherstudent verbal interaction. Except in the area of climate, where core classrooms showed superiority, more similarities than differences were found. Neither core nor departmentalized classrooms were dominated by the practices recommended in the literature to aid early adolescent growth and development.