Education policy is frequently in the crosshairs of ideological disagreement. This dissertation analyzes three controversial policies over which elected school boards often have control: charter schools, suspension bans, and ability groups. How do charter schools impact district academic growth? Researchers typically focus on large districts with many charter schools, but the most common experience is an average-sized district shifting from no charters to one. A difference-in-differences design analyzing a decade of charter expansion in California reveals that impact is contingent on charter type: locally funded charters (i.e. affiliated with the district) lead to either static or decreased growth while directly funded charters (i.e. independent of the district) lead to higher academic growth. Many policymakers have banned or limited suspensions for all but the most serious offenses. The 2013 suspension ban in Los Angeles Unified School District provides a natural experiment; it led to a substantial, 0.2 standard deviation decrease in academic growth among middle schools that had previously issued the banned suspensions. Four subsequent suspension bans – in San Francisco, Pasadena, Oakland, and (grades K-3) all of California – also appear to have harmed academic growth. Simultaneously, suspension bans have an uncertain relationship with dropout rates, the primary mechanism by which bans are meant to impact the school-to-prison pipeline. Instead of banning suspensions, policymakers should carefully test other efforts that decrease suspension and dropout rates without harming academic growth. Finally, educators have utilized between-class ability grouping – sorting students in one grade into different classes by prior ability – for over a century. Proponents rely on a previously untested mechanism: decreased classroom dispersion in prior academic ability allows teachers to target their instruction more narrowly. This final paper measures classroom dispersion directly for the same students over four trimesters. Multivariate regressions and multilevel models evaluate the relationship between classroom dispersion and academic growth while controlling for other classroom characteristics as well as student, teacher, and school effects. Analyses reveal that English classrooms with less dispersion in prior ability experience slightly less growth. However, there is a trade-off: between-class ability grouping improves equity at the expense of overall academic growth.

In this qualitative case-study, EFL teachers’ experience and views regarding homogeneous and heterogeneous ability groups are investigated. Four EFL teachers working in the Introduction program in upper secondary school were interviewed through semi-structured questions. The interviews were held individually and conducted by the researcher. The questions focused on a teacher perspective as well as a student perspective and the teachers were also asked whether they preferred any of the two ability groups and possible reasons for this. The answers were quite similar and the teachers mentioned some common factors, such as time and efficiency, assignments, lectures, student interaction and learning progression. It was clear that the teachers found homogeneous ability groups easier to manage and this was also the group that three of them preferred working with. Additional reasons for this choice was the experience that this type of group was more beneficial for students and the teachers also felt more successful in their roles as teachers. Although one teacher mostly agreed with the others she was more in favour of heterogeneous ability groups, or a mix of both groups, because it allowed students to develop in their own pace and from their individual preferences and she also experienced more satisfaction in finding the right structure and strategies for each student. / I den här kvalitativa fallstudien undersöks engelsklärares erfarenheter och perspektiv angående homogena och heterogena nivågrupper. Fyra engelsklärare som arbetar på introduktionsprogrammen inom gymnasieskolan intervjuades genom semistrukturerade frågor. Intervjuerna genomfördes individuellt och av forskaren. Frågorna fokuserade på ett lärarperspektiv likväl som ett elevperspektiv och lärarna fick också svara på frågan om de föredrog någon av de två nivågrupperingarna och ange möjliga orsaker till detta. Svaren var någorlunda lika och samtliga lärare lyfte några gemensamma nämnare så som tid och effektivitet, uppgifter, genomgångar, elevinteraktion samt inlärningsprogression. Det var tydligt att lärarna ansåg det enklare att hantera homogena nivågrupper och det var även den typ av grupp som tre av dem föredrog att arbeta med. Ytterligare orsaker till detta var upplevelsen att denna typ av grupp var mer gynnsam för elever och lärarna kände sig även mer framgångsrika i rollen som lärare. Även om en lärare ofta höll med övriga så föredrog hon heterogena nivågrupper, alternativt en blandning av båda grupper, då detta lät elever utvecklas i sin egen takt och utifrån sina individuella förutsättningar. Hon upplevde också mer tillfredsställelse av att hitta rätt struktur och strategier för varje elev.

The study explores the role of eye contact in promoting effective learning in natural science in the secondary school using eye-tracking technology. A theoretical framework constituting the theories of Vygotsky, Piaget and Bandura inform the study. In the empirical inquiry in this study a purposefully selected group of eleven Grade 9-learners of mixed ability were eye-tracked by means of the Tobii 60 X-2 eye-tracker during individual viewings of a video-recording of a natural science lesson taught by the educator using a PowerPoint presentation. The Tobii 60 X-2 eyetracker establishes how a learner pays attention to information presented through educator narration, visuals and texts during teaching and learning. The findings indicate that, as the learners’ areas of interest, their highest total fixation duration was firstly on the PowerPoint presentation, and secondly on the educator. Under-performing natural science learners showed shorter and less dense fixation in both areas of interest. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)

The study explores the role of eye contact in promoting effective learning in natural science in the secondary school using eye-tracking technology. A theoretical framework constituting the theories of Vygotsky, Piaget and Bandura inform the study. In the empirical inquiry in this study a purposefully selected group of eleven Grade 9-learners of mixed ability were eye-tracked by means of the Tobii 60 X-2 eye-tracker during individual viewings of a video-recording of a natural science lesson taught by the educator using a PowerPoint presentation. The Tobii 60 X-2 eyetracker establishes how a learner pays attention to information presented through educator narration, visuals and texts during teaching and learning. The findings indicate that, as the learners’ areas of interest, their highest total fixation duration was firstly on the PowerPoint presentation, and secondly on the educator. Under-performing natural science learners showed shorter and less dense fixation in both areas of interest. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)