The Need To Expand the Opportunity To Learn Conceptual Framework: Should Students, Parents, and School Resources Be Included?.

Abstract

Opportunity-to-Learn (OTL) benefits all students by providing information about how to improve the academic achievement of students, especially poor and minority students. This paper discusses ways in which the OTL conceptual framework can be expanded. OTL's conceptual framework identified four variables that have a powerful influence on teachers' teaching practices and student learning--content coverage, content exposure; content emphasis, and equality of instructional delivery. In 1995, the OTL framework was expanded to include the variables of family support for students' academic behavior, school support for students' academic behavior, and school support for students' behavior. The paper highlights ways to conne:t research information to classroom practices--through teacher logs, structured observations, surveys, interval testing, and small assessment tasks. Use of the expanded OTL framework provides guided inquiry for educators to determine how well students are being served and to improve the efforts of teachers and parents, which in turn should increase the academic achievement of all students. (Contains 25 references.) (LMI) ***********4T*********************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the pest that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************** THE NEED TO WAND THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN CONCEPTUAL FRAIvIEWORK: SHOULD STUDENTS, PARENTS AND SCHOOL RESOURCES BE INCLUDED? Floraline I. Stevens A Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association April 8 12, 1996 New York City, New York