- The purpose of the research is to identify the organizational characteristics of high schools that make them better places for students to learn.
- The study concludes that structural practices in schools influence academic achievement.
- The schools’ organizational characteristics were distinctive in several ways. Schools with no structural practices were significantly disadvantaged compared to schools with only traditional practices on several social demographic factors (more minority students and students of lower ability).
- The optimal organization for schools is smaller, less specialization, less hierarchy, and more cooperation.
- Findings support using narrow and academic curriculum.
- The number and type of structural practices are less important for learning than the types of social relations, curriculum, and instruction.
- School policies and practices can reduce or exacerbate differences in learning among students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. And, they can do so substantially.
- SES has stronger effects on late gains than on early gains in both subjects.
- Gender effects are large and favor males, especially in science, but also in mathematics, particularly later gains.
- The residual effects of minority status are unusual. For early gains in both mathematics and science, minority status is negatively related. Once early gains are controlled for, minority effects on late gains become positive.
- Except for school size, where the effects on both effectiveness and equity favor smaller schools, the contextual effects of school composition are nonsignificant (over and above the effects of individual student characteristics) on either equity or effectiveness.