| The purpose of this study was to describe the reactions of three students who had previously been in a low-track sophomore English class with high teacher expectations and subsequently enrolled in a heterogeneously-grouped, college-bound English class as juniors. For three academic quarters, data were collected on the students' responses to the heterogeneous junior English course. Collected data included student interviews, student observations, samples of student work, and researcher notes in a journal. At the end of the study period, data were triangulated to determine responses of individual students and themes present in each of the case students. The following themes were evident across the case students: (a) The teacher-student relationship plays a role in student motivation and achievement, (b) opportunities for socialization and collaboration increase classroom engagement, (c) case students are not full members of the college-bound Discourse community, and (d) achievement on standardized reading tests loosely predicts success in the college-bound English classroom. |
