The Effectiveness of Teacher Course Recommendations in Predicting Student Outcomes

According to Robert Marzano, author of the archetypal work, "Classroom Instruction That Works", good instruction can take any student and make them better. The Peters Township School District's mission and vision statements align with Marzano's beliefs. However, the current system employed by the District by which students are placed into honors and academic level classes is in conflict with that mission and vision. During the transition from middle school to high school, access to honors classes requires a student's prior teacher's recommendation. Their only option to take an honors class without a recommendation is to file an official appeal to the high school administration and counselors. This current process is creating barriers for many students to experience the higher rigor honors classes and the opportunities of trajectory they create. This study seeks to inspect the current recommendation and placement process as well as to analyze the impact it is having on student outcomes. As a mixed-methods study, it is driven by three research questions that ask for the quantitative data associated with the overall student population final grade outcomes as well as the outcomes for students who appealed to get into each of the courses. It also contains an analysis of the qualitative data associated with teacher's opinions about the course recommendation and placement process. This study shows the current process arbitrarily and unnecessarily limits students and makes recommendations for its modification to better support the mission and vision of the District.