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VARIABILITY IN ATTAINMENT
Author(s) -
KEMP LESLIE C. D.
Publication year - 1957
Publication title -
british journal of educational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.557
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 2044-8279
pISSN - 0007-0998
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8279.1957.tb01412.x
Subject(s) - psychology , educational attainment , developmental psychology , homogeneous , social psychology , political science , physics , law , thermodynamics
S ummary .1.— Growing out of an earlier investigation into certain factors associated with level of attainment in junior schools, a subsidiary study has been made of the variability in attainment within schools. 2.— Highly significant differences in spread of attainment scores within schools have been found. 3.— Lack of interest in school appeared to be the only characteristic (of those considered) associated with greater variability in attainment in all the school subjects tested. 4.— Variability in attainment in what have been called the rote subjects appeared to be greater in schools where, in addition to a lack of interest, there was a lower level of intelligence, socio‐economic status, and morale, with a progressive rather than traditional type of organisation. These schools tended to be housed in older types of buildings with larger playground space per pupil. 5.— Less definite indications were found that variability in the comprehension subjects tended to be greater in schools where the children, in addition to showing lack of interest, came from homes of higher socio‐economic status. These schools tended to be large. 6.— There is a suggestion that a more progressive kind of school organisation permits greater variability in rote attainment, while the more traditional or formal kind of organisation tends to lead to more homogeneous achievement. 7.— Size of class appears not to be associated with variability in attainment.