MIL OSI Translation. Government of the Republic of France statements from French to English –
Source: Switzerland – Canton Government of Geneva in French
In Geneva, the management of student heterogeneity in secondary education I is reflected in the establishment of streams. At the end of primary education, students are directed into three distinct sections based on their performance.
The justification for this organizational choice is based on the idea of more effective targeting of teaching that should lead to better learning. However, the results of the national COFO survey and the cantonal fundamental expectations tests (TAF) repeatedly show particularly weak performance in the least demanding groupings, including with regard to the acquisition of basic skills. The literature has shown that due to differences in teaching, separate systems organized into streams are of little benefit to students in difficulty. Placement in a low-level group can also have harmful effects on other dimensions that interact with academic skills and influence success. Thus, certain motivational and metacognitive skills of students such as the feeling of competence or interest in learning can be degraded.
This SRED study, conducted during the orientation cycle, illustrates the mechanisms at work based on data collected from a large sample of 11th grade students, classes and teachers (2,700 students, 150 classes and 160 teachers). The separation into streams results in particular in lower learning opportunities and expectations in Mathematics and French for students in the least demanding streams. On the other hand, the teaching they receive differs little from the point of view of classroom practices. Multilevel analyses demonstrate that at a comparable initial level, learning opportunities and expectations have an effect on students’ final performance, as do certain practices such as the pace of lessons, the structuring of teaching and differentiation.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.