Effects of School Restructuring on the Achievement and Engagement of Middle-grade Students

Abstract

This study examined the impact of attending restructured schools on the achievement and engagement of young adolescents.The restructuring movement is placed within the conceptual framework that favors the development of more communally organized schools, as opposed to the largely bureaucratic model of most American schools.Using a subsample of data from the base year of the National Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), including 8,845 eighth graders in 377 public, Catholic, and independent middle-grade schools, the effects of school restructuring on student achievement, engagement with academic work, and the extent of at-risk behaviors are examined.The construct of restructuring is captured as less departmentalization, more heterogeneous grouping, rlre team teaching, and a composite index of restructuring.The study makes use of multilevel analytic models and includes statistical controls for characteristics of students and schools.Findings indicate that restructuring has modest but positive effects on both achievement and engagement and contributes to a more equitable distribution of these outcomes among students from different social backgrounds.Students attending schools with fewer eighth-grade peers also demonstrate more academic engagement and a more equitable distribution of achievement.Eight tables and 18 technical notes are included.Appendices include tables of hierarchical linear models.(98 references) (LMI)