CURRICULUM COMPACTING AND ACHIEVEMENT-TEST SCORES - WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY

This study examined the effects of curriculum compacting on the achiev ement test scores of a national sample of 336 high ability students fr om second through sixth grade heterogeneous classrooms in rural, subur ban, and urban settings. Curriculum compacting is a strategy for elimi nating curricular material that students have already mastered and rep lacing it with more appropriate learning activities. Teachers from thr ee treatment and control groups in this experimental study selected on e to two students from their classes who demonstrated superior ability and advanced content knowledge prior to instruction. They were able t o eliminate between 40%-50% of curricula for these students across con tent areas. Pre and post student achievement was examined using the Io wa Test of Basic Skills, and out-of-grade-level (one grade higher) tes ts were used to guard against ceiling effects. The results indicated t hat the achievement test scores of the students whose curriculum was c ompacted did not differ significantly from students whose curriculum w as not compacted. These findings from a national study minimize teache rs' fears about declines in students' achievement test scores due to c ompacting.