Streaming: Its organisation and effects on teachers and students

Abstract

This study explored differences between high- and low-ability groups in streamed primary, preparatory, and all-age schools in terms of selected student and teacher variables. It aimed to: 1) investigate the organization and administration of streaming in samples from the three types of school; 2) examine the differences in the degree of stress, the levels of academic self-concept, and academic motivation existing between students of high- and low-ability groups of selected Grade 6 classes in all three types of schools, and Grade 7 in all-age schools; 3) ascertain whether teachers of the differing ability groups differed significantly on their levels of stress, job satisfaction, personal, professional, and academic self-concepts, and their opinion on streaming; and 4) determine the combination of variables that best discriminates between high- and low-ability groups. Data were collected through questionnaires administered to (a) 300 students, randomly selected from the high-ability (150 students) and low-ability (150 students) groups within the Grade 6 of each of three preparatory, four primary, and four all-age schools; (b) a similar selection from the Grade 7 of the all-age schools, and (c) 30 teachers, as well as through interviews with the principals of the 11 schools. Results of the data analysis revealed that: 1) students of the high-ability group scored significantly higher than those of the low-ability group on three variables: Academic Self-Concept, Academic Motivation, and Occupation of Parents; 2) the low-ability group experienced significantly more stress than their high-ability counterparts; 3) Academic Motivation was the most significant discriminator between the groups, with Academic Self-Concept, Occupation of Parents, and Stress adding significantly to the discrimination achieved by this variable; and 4) teachers of the high-ability group experienced significantly less stress and held higher personal self-concepts than their colleagues in the low-ability group