ABSTRACT

Tracking pupils based on their abilities or other aptitudes is a common practice in many countries. In Finland, selective classes with a special emphasis have become popular. The societal and individual effects of tracking are a topic of ongoing educational discussion. Tracking has been seen to increase educational inequality, but still it has been defended as an important practice enabling individualised and adjusted teaching. This study examined whether studying in a selective class with a special emphasis has an effect on the development of pupils' action-control beliefs from grade seven to nine. Results showed that pupils who studied in classes with a special emphasis showed greater achievement and were more likely to have highly-educated mothers than pupils in classes without an emphasis. This selectivity explained most of the differences found in action-control beliefs between classes. Pairwise comparisons showed small differences in the change of certain action-control beliefs between classes.

摘要

在许多国家/地区，根据学生的能力或其他能力来跟踪学生是一种常见做法。在芬兰，特别强调的选择性课程变得流行。跟踪的社会和个人影响是正在进行的教育讨论的主题。跟踪被认为会增加教育不平等，但它仍然被认为是实现个性化和调整教学的重要实践。这项研究检验了在特别强调的选择性班级学习是否对七年级至九年级学生的行动控制信念的发展产生影响。结果表明，在重点班学习的学生比在没有重点班的学生表现出更大的成就，并且更有可能拥有受过高等教育的母亲。这种选择性解释了类别之间在行动控制信念中发现的大部分差异。两两比较表明，不同类别之间某些行动控制信念的变化存在微小差异。