Assigning Class: Do

social class indicators

determine classroom
Tracy Avery
assignments?
Northwestern University
Culture and Learning
June 8th 2009

Overview
Talk about the relevance of my experiment
Literature Review
Framework of argument
Experiment
Expectations

Background
Relevance
Differentiated
instruction
Social
Reproduction

Literature
Social Class
Research
Teacher
Expectation
Student
Achievement
Student Awareness

(Tomlinson ,1989; Botkin, 1987; Cooper 1979; Hughes, Perry-Jenkins 1996; Duncan, Yeung,
Brooks-Gunn, Smith 1998; Morris 2005)

Argument and Model

Experiment
Participants will be 2nd grade teachers ranging from several years
of experience, randomly selected on a voluntary basis.
Each Participants will receive six bios of AA male students and
will be asked to group the students into three groups of two.
The teachers will then be instructed to assign a book for each
group and a task to each individual.
3 bios will have an indication of social class (neighborhood, freereduced lunch, or parental occupation) while the others will not.
Each assignment will be leveled using Blooms Taxonomy of
learning. 3 task using the lower level thinking skills and 3 using
higher order thinking skills.
An interview will be conducted at the end of each experiment to
provide participants an opportunity to justify responses.

Bios
Keyshawn likes to
make people laugh.
His favorite color is
blue and he is really
good at sports.
Keyshawn is the
youngest child in his
family, but he has lots
of friends. His mom
tries to be involved in
school, but she works
late at the local WalMart. Keyshawn loves
Pokmon.

Bacarii is very
generous. His favorite
color is blue and he
likes to play outside
with his dog. Bicarris
mom enjoys
volunteering at school
but her job is too
demanding. He is a
very good singer and
loves to watch the
Power Rangers.
Bicarrii has several
cousins at school.

Book Choices

The books were randomly selected from a second grade

reading list. Each book is on the same level and
considered appropriate for second graders during the
middle of the year. If teachers are not familiar with these
books the synopsis provided by the author will be
available; however, teachers will not be notified of the
level.

Assignments
1. Draw a picture of the

setting. (Knowledge)
2. Draw a map of the

places main character

went. You may include
a legend.
(Comprehension)
3. List all the characters

in the story and write

one thing about them.
(Knowledge)

4. Choose one character

from the story you
would like to meet.
Write a letter that tells
why. (Comprehension)
5. Make a poster about

the book, including the

main events.
(Knowledge)
6. Rename the book and

make a new cover.

(Synthesis)

My Expectations
Teachers will assign the lower level task to
the students with indicators of class.
Teachers will group according to expected
ability. May play out expected lows together.
Race among teachers may provide different
findings.
African American teachers may be more
sensitive to class; thus, paying more
attention to indicators of status.