Background and Instructional Effects on Achievement in Eighth-Grade English and Social Studies

This article examines the effects of instruction on achievement in eighth grade English and social studies. It is further concerned with the extent to which instructional variation helps account for achievement inequality among racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. The approach to measuring instruction draws on direct-instruction research, which suggests that teacher-led activities and a strong academic focus raise achievement, and on other work suggesting that achievement is encouraged by building on students' ideas within the context of direct-instruction activities. The results show modest but significant effects, in both subjects, of lecture, question-answer, and discussion activities; instructional coherence; and student participation. These effects account for an important part of the impact of background variables on achievement.