ERIC Number: ED242397
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1982
Pages: 94
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Classroom Disruption in Disadvantaged and Non-Disadvantaged N.S.W. Primary Schools. Mt. Druitt Longitudinal Study Report.
O'Brien, Peter
To broaden and extend the Mt. Druitt Early Childhood Project, a study was made of variables that research suggested were associated with classroom disruption in the primary school. Disruptive incidents in the classroom were construed as sequences of behaviors involving one or more students and the teacher in which class order breaks down and the teacher responds in ways intended to restore order. The literature suggests that classroom disruption (1) varies inversely with grade level; (2) covaries with pupils' and families' socieconomic status and pupils' prior academic achievement; (3) varies in degree according to instructional setting; and (4) consists mostly of off-task talk and out-of-seat behavior. Previous findings also suggest that (1) teachers generally cope with disruption by using direct verbal techniques; (2) given different teachers, children may display different levels of disruption; and (3) teacher desists, or attempts to handle classroom misbehavior, are immediately effective. Participating were disadvantaged students attending third- and fourth-grade classes in five schools in the Mt. Druitt district and their nondisadvantaged counterparts attending contrasting schools within the Sydney, Australia, greater metropolitan area. On the basis of observations made with specially designed instruments, disadvantaged children were found to be neither more nor less disruptive in school than were the nondisadvantaged youngsters with whom they were compared. (RH)
Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Classroom Observation Techniques, Classroom Techniques, Comparative Analysis, Disadvantaged Youth, Elementary Education, Elementary School Students, Family Characteristics, Foreign Countries, Longitudinal Studies, Measures (Individuals), Student Behavior, Teacher Attitudes, Teacher Characteristics, Teacher Response, Teacher Responsibility
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Bernard Van Leer Foundation, The Hague (Netherlands).; Australian Schools Commission, Canberra.
Authoring Institution: Macquarie Univ., North Ryde (Australia). School of Education.
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A