Connecting out-of-school curricula and classroom teaching.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study examined how teachers' connection of classroom instruction to students' out-of-school experiences and interests affects students' engagement in school and reading achievement gains. Survey data from Chicago Public School teachers and students and student scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) were used to investigate this relationship. The classrooms of two sixth grade Chicago Public School teachers were also studied to provide a portrait of what connecting teaching to students' out-of-school interests and experiences looks like in practice.
The study focused on sixth through eighth grade students and teachers representing up to 348 schools in the Chicago Public School system. Samples ranged from 779 to 1,541 teachers and from 43,658 to 51,601 students depending on the measure under investigation. Multiple regression analyses were used to test these relationships.
Results showed that when teachers connect instruction to students' out-of-school interests and experiences, student engagement in school increases. There were no significant findings on the relationship between “connected” teaching and student reading achievement gains. The individual teacher studies revealed how connecting teaching to students' out-of-school worlds may serve to promote student engagement. They also show that teachers may engage in the practice of “connected” teaching in a number of different ways.