Classroom management and student achievement: a study on five elementary

Abstract

This study intended to investigate primary school teachers’ classroom management and student achievement in their classrooms. For this purpose, a total of 150 class-hours were spent on observing one first grade and four second grades in a primary school in Eskisehir city center between October 2013 and December 2013. Research participation criteria for teachers included volunteering for the study and having at least one special needs student in their classrooms for observation so that teacher behaviors towards the special needs students could be observed. Researcher-developed observation form was used in the study for data collection purposes to record teachers’ classroom management practices during observations. The form included several dimensions related to classroom management behaviors such as the exact moment of the lesson in which the teacher starts teaching, the locations of special needs students during the class period, use of rewards-punishment for special needs students and other students, use of individualized care for special needs students and the degree of effective use of classroom period. Data related to student achievement were obtained from the results of a general achievement test given to all students at the school based on their grade levels. Research data were analyzed via descriptive statistics and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine the difference between groups. The findings showed that teachers tended to place special needs students at the back rows of the classroom and that they did not provide individualized teaching opportunities in line with the needs of special needs students. It was also found that number of correct answered in the general achievement test significantly changed according to students’ teachers.