Classroom Environment Study

The IEA Classroom Environment Study aimed to describe similarities and differences in the nature of teaching in classrooms, and to identify the teaching behaviors associated with better student achievement.

Two major categories of teaching behavior were identified for inclusion in the study: management practices (those intending to bring students into contact with relevant learning tasks), and instructional practices (those having a direct influence on students' learning processes). The study was longitudinal, with student learning outcomes measured at two points in time. Each national center selected one or more learning units that required a specified period of time to teach to students, with a pre-test and post-test administered at the beginning and end of the unit(s), respectively. Both the pre-test and post-test were constructed nationally, according to the specifications prepared by the international study center. Between the two test administrations, each classroom included in the study was observed from six to ten times at regular intervals. The data were collected in 1981–1983.

Probability sampling was not used to select samples of schools and classrooms. Across the participating countries, the number of schools in which the study was conducted ranged from 9 to 77, and the number of classrooms ranged from 18 to 87 with three subjects represented (mathematics, science, and history). The grade levels involved ranged from the fifth grade to the eighth grade.

Australia, Canada (Ontario and Quebec), Hungary, Israel, Korea, Netherlands, Nigeria, and Thailand.

Germany (FRG) conducted the study two years later.

Characteristics of classroom instruction

Across countries, the majority of teachers reported making extensive use of published textbooks and used whole class instruction more frequently than small group work or individualized instruction. With the exception of Korea, a rather large number of observed lessons were devoted to reviewing previously taught content and material. The opportunity for students to learn the content included in the post-test differed greatly within countries. Students in some classrooms were taught two or three times more of the content than students in other classrooms.

The most frequently observed classroom activities were lecturing, seatwork (either written or laboratory, depending on the subject), and management. They accounted for half to more than four-fifths of all activities observed in all countries except Hungary. In Hungary, lecturing was replaced by discourse (which occurred over 50% of the time).

The most often registered teacher behaviors were explanation, explanation with materials, asking recall questions, responding to questions, attending to procedural matters, and silence. They accounted for about half to over three-fourths of all behaviors observed in all countries except Israel (where demonstration was most popular).

Classroom instruction and student achievement

Teacher behaviors were more consistently associated with students' academic engagement than with their final achievement. Thus, what teachers did in the classroom appeared to be more highly related to what students did than to what they learned. However, the quantity of instruction students received (defined in terms of opportunity to learn, homework assignments, or both) was positively associated with cognitive achievement in some countries. This relationship was particularly strong in Australia and the Netherlands.

Students who spent more time actively engaged in learning tended to achieve higher post-test scores. Students' perceptions of the task orientation of their classrooms also influenced their achievement as well as their academic engagement. Students' initial achievement influenced their final achievement, and their initial attitudes influenced their final attitudes.

Anderson, L.W., Ryan, D.W., & Shapiro, B.J. (Eds.). (1989). The IEA Classroom Environment Study. Oxford: Pergamon Press.