Classroom Structure and the Organization of Ability

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of classroom structure on the conception of academic ability which becomes institutionalized within the classroom. It is argued that unidimensionar' classroom organization produces a performance structure and a collective conception of ability isomorphic to that institutionalized in the larger society-i.e., that ability is a single dimension on which individual scores are widely differentiated and normally distributed, and that individuals' ability levels are general and stable. It is also predicted that unidimensional structure will produce high peer consensus as to students' relative performance abilities, thereby increasing peers' influence over individuals' perceptions of their own ability levels. Hypotheses are tentatively tested with a sample of third grade classrooms.