Mental models of diverse, high achieving elementary schools in Texas

This study examined how the mental models of teachers related to equitable academic achievement for students. The underlying causes of the persistent performance gaps between the achievement of minority students and White students were also examined in this study. Although educational reform movements aimed at improving academic achievement have had sporadic success, performance gaps continue. The way in which schools conceptualized cultural and class differences was suggested as one critical underlying issue. The issue of cultural and class differences was analyzed from a review of literature addressing the role of class and culture in education. The main sources of this literature were Critical Theory, Multicultural Education, Democratic Schooling, the Chicano movement, African American educational perspectives, and Texas Education Agency information on Texas public elementary schools. The study relied on both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA) techniques were used to analyze processes and systems through focus groups. The focus groups were drawn from high achieving, ethnically diverse elementary schools. Some of the schools also exhibited high equity on achievement measures such as the TAAS, while others were chosen because of the achievement gap between their White and minority students. The results of the IQA were used to better understand the mental models operating in HiDEA (High Diversity, Equity and Achievement) and Gap Elementary Schools in Texas. This methodology provided rich contextual data in addition to the findings from the quantitative portion of the study which consisted of a statistical analysis of factors identified in the literature as related to equity and achievement. The findings revealed significant but weak relationships between factors related to achievement and equity in the literature. Equity factors were strongly related to achievement in diverse, high performing elementary schools. These schools have done something to eliminate or reduce these factors. The data on the schools’ mental models suggested that certain differences in the structure and content of the models could account for the differences in performance of White and minority students. Based on these findings, the strengths and limitations of different mental models for decreasing the achievement gap between White and minority students in diverse schools were identified. The analysis of the mental models has applications to the practice of district administrators, campus administrators and teachers.