Evans

There has been a great deal of public discussion about academic achievement, of high school students and the reasons why many perform poorly on national examinations. This concern about academic achievement especially in the upgraded high schools, was one of the reasons why I undertook an in-depth study of one upgraded urban high school in 2003.

My main interest was in the teaching and learning process and the ways in which learning and academic achievement are constructed, and the conditions under which learning occurs. Local and international research indicates that students' social class is related to academic achievement, since students' social and cultural capital - knowledge learned from family background - facilitates learning. This is one reason why examination results of traditional high schools surpass those of the upgraded high schools attended by low-income students. But I was also interested in the school-related factors that influence students' academic achievement.

I spent almost two years in a school, which I call Hillview High School, an urban upgraded high school attended mainly by students from low-income families. My research focus was on one grade nine class which I call Grade 9X, but information was also obtained on one other grade nine class referred to as Grade 9A. The grade nine classes were streamed. Grade 9A was the highest stream, while Grade 9X was fourth in the scale of academic ability. I sat in several classes and observed lessons in almost all subjects, interviewed teachers and students and examined documents related to students' achievement results from their entry in grade seven including their GSAT results up to grade nine when the study was conducted. I also obtained the CXC examination results which these students sat in 2006.

Students in Grade 9X and Grade 9A ob-tained very similar scores on the GSAT examination. Streaming began in grade eight based on the test results of 2001-2002. Yet, there was a marked difference in the achievement levels of these two classes from 2001 to 2004. By June 2004, the average performance of Grade 9A was more than 22 points above the average performance of Grade 9X. These results are presented in Table 1.

The differences in the CXC results of 2006 for these two grades are even more striking. There were 42 students in Grade 9X of whom 26 sat the CXC examination. Of the 45 students in Grade 9A, 39 sat the CXC examination. The percentages in Table 2 below are calculated based on the number of students who sat the examination.

Only six, or 23 per cent, of students in Grade 9X passed four or more subjects compared with 30, or 77 per cent of those in Grade 9A. Similarly, 20, or 77 per cent, of students in Grade 9X passed three subjects or less compared with nine, or 23 per cent, of students in Grade 9A. The percentages are practically reversed for these two classes.

What accounts for these differences in outcomes for students from similar socio-economic backgrounds, with similar entry-level scores on the GSAT exam, attending the same type of school, taught by the same teachers and following the same curriculum? What school, related factors influenced students' learning? On the basis of the in-depth study of Grade 9X, the brief observation of Grade 9A, and conversations with teachers and students, these results can be explained by three main factors: streaming, teaching methods, and student characteristics/classroom behaviour.

Different interpretation

Streaming acted as a framework for different interpretations, self-evaluations, and actions on the part of teachers and students. Most teachers developed lower expectations for Grade 9X students' academic work, interest and commitment to learning. Teachers' lowered expectations began a cycle of poor teaching methods, a relaxation of standards for students' academic work, a modification of the curriculum, and an unwillingness or reluctance to follow up or to provide additional help. The opposite was true for the students of Grade 9A who from observations and reports of teachers maintained their academic focus. This academic focus and teacher expectations created a classroom culture which influenced learning.

The second factor that influenced academic achievement was the teaching methods typically used by teachers. For the majority of lessons observed, the pedagogy was based on the transmission model of teaching with limited instructional materials or textbooks and limited student engagement or interaction with the text in cases where the textbook was used. The focus was on passing on information by means of the spoken or written word. As a consequence of the absence of texts and materials, learning time was spent listening to what the teacher said or reading from a textbook or writing material that the teacher wrote on the chalkboard during the class period. Many of the conditions necessary for real meaningful learning of powerful ideas were, therefore, not present.

This transmission model of teaching is not effective for the majority of students, although some students of high academic ability and verbal fluency do learn in this way. It is not recommended for students with average or below-average ability, those with a limited sight vocabulary, or those who have problems in reading. It may place boys at a disadvantage, since girls more so than boys at this age appear to have mastered most of the auditory and other literacy skills required to learn effectively by this method.

Learning and achievement were also influenced by students' academic ability, interest in the subject, and personal qualities such as ability to control one's behaviour, follow school rules, and be committed to learning. Some students took advantage of 'downtime' when there was limited teaching, or when the teacher was late, to become disruptive by walking around, and giving jokes. Such behaviour reduced students' academic focus and created a classroom culture not conducive to learning.

Student-produced culture

In the Grade 9A lessons observed, students were engaged in a task, and they asked questions and had them answered, with the teacher ready to respond to comments and questions. The opposite was true of many of the lessons observed in 9X. So the peer culture and the student-produced culture, lowered teachers' expectations and commitment, and influenced the pedagogy used which in turn further alienated students in Grade 9X. The contrasting classroom culture of Grade 9A reinforced those students' academic focus.

So many factors contributed to the construction of academic achievement at Hillview High, and each contributed in different ways. Initial differences in achievement in grade eight were interpreted as differences in student ability and potential which led to students being placed in different streams. These abilities constructed during the first year were then accentuated by streaming. In some respects students' ability was organised and even constructed through streaming. Placement in a stream affirmed students' academic ability and legitimated the pedagogy used. Teachers' expectations, the pedagogy, the disruptiveness caused by students' peer culture, and the learning environment that was created each influenced the others, interacting to produce learning and non-learning, participation or lack of it and, ultimately, student learning and achievement. These results show that some students in the same school can gain more from education than others.

The discourse on education incorporates the notion of individual achievement, a notion that is tempered with the understanding that opportunities for achievement are few and the constraints are many. Jamaicans' ideas about education laud individual achievement and assume that all can/should achieve. For working-class students to achieve, they have to be aware of the institutional demands of school - displaying potential, willingness to work, proper behaviour, manners, decorum, and compliance to school and classroom rules. Not all working-class students can meet this challenge.

Individual achievement

Unfortunately, most students are not even aware that these are the basic requirements for success at school.

In Jamaican education, we have a tradition of focusing on the bright ones. This special attention happens not only in families and in classrooms, but is organised at the level of the school through streaming. The CXC results of 2006 show that we can have fairly good CXC results from the upgraded high schools but only from those classes to which special attention has been paid. If we want to be serious about academic achievement, we - educators at all levels - have to assume more accountability and more responsibility for student learning, and this is especially true at the school level.

At Hillview High School, no one had final responsibility for the academic achievement of students. An examination of the grades of the Grade 9X students shows that almost 80 per cent of the failing grades were at level four. So with a little more effort on the part of teachers and students, these students could have gained a passing level three. While it is true that many of the Grade 9X students did not make the effort to achieve success, most of them did. They worked hard, they were ambitious, and they wanted to be successful. They were let down at the level of the teaching-learning transaction. At the same time we must recognise that teachers need resources and materials to create meaningful learning. We cannot expect teaching for understanding unless the materials are available and used. This is one policy implication of this study.

Hyacinth Evans is professor of teacher education at the University of the West Indies, Mona. 'Inside Hillview High School: an ethnography of an urban Jamaican school' was recently published by UWI Press.