INTERCLASSROOM DIFFERENCES IN INSTRUCTIONAL QUALITY AND INTERINDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE-DEVELOPMENT

In the literature, there is now sufficient empirical evidence for many specific and short-term effects of differences in the quality of clas sroom teaching on student learning and achievement. Simultaneously, th ere is a lack of longitudinal studies suited to estimate the cumulativ e impact of instructional quality on various aspects of cognitive deve lopment. This article presents selected results from a 4-year longitud inal study in elementary schools. The findings indicate (a) that the t emporal stability of scholastic achievement remains high even when int elligence is partialed out and/or the classroom teacher has changed an d (b) that math achievement measured in second grade predicts both mat h achievement and intellectual performance in fourth grade. In additio n, cognitive variables are highly stable over time. These findings are discussed with respect to models of cognitive development and with re gard of the impact of different classroom experiences for student cogn itive outcomes.