Can researchers create cost-effective measures to assess how teacher practices are related to student norms regarding academics, or which students are seen by their peers as leaders? Do such features of the peer group predict academic and behavioral outcomes? How might such a measure provide us with more information on understanding classroom quality than is currently obtained from teacher surveys and classroom observation? The team is using a sample of 72 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade classrooms in 18 schools serving 1,600 youth in central Pennsylvania and Illinois. The schools vary in their ethnic heterogeneity, allowing the researchers to examine the influence of ethnic diversity on peer networks in classrooms.
Can researchers create cost-effective measures to assess how teacher practices are related to student norms regarding academics, or which students are seen by their peers as leaders?
