Relationship Between Grade Span Configuration and Academic Achievement

Abstract

In an effort to address the NCLB-mandated testing process, one of the issues to be considered is how best to configure student populations to maximize all aspects of the educational setting while simultaneously maximizing student achievement; one aspect is grade span configuration. We examined the relationship between the grade span configuration of all schools in Arkansas attended by sixth-grade students and the academic achievement of the combined population of students as measured by the Arkansas Benchmark Examination. We found no relationship between grade span configuration and academic achievement as measured by the Arkansas Benchmark Examination for sixth-grade students. However, the nonsignificant findings do not negate the importance of the study. The results imply that there are other factors that are affecting scores in the middles grades. The results of the study also revealed that over the time span examined, mathematics Benchmark achievement rose but the results for literacy were stagnant. These results suggest that newly implemented practices or other factors may have improved mathematics achievement, but not achievement in literacy. Grade span configuration alone does not account for sixth-grade students’ academic achievement as measured by the Arkansas Benchmark Examination. Decisions about campus configurations include other factors such as projected enrollments, transportation costs, size of schools, school goals, fiscal constraints, political tensions, geographic realities, and financial accountability. As student populations shift, educational leaders can look for grade span configurations that best fit their community culture and current facilities, focusing financial resources on other means of improving academic achievement.