12 - Comparison Between School Effectiveness Characteristics and Classroom Instruction Strategies in the United States and Nigeria

par David A. Adewuyi

Abstract

One incontrovertible, if unsettling, discovery in School Effectiveness Research (SER) is that an accumulation of evidence on the characteristics of effective instruction has not answered the perplexing question of why certain characteristics work in on school and not in others. One suggestion by many researchers to deal with this nagging problem is the contextualisation of SER such that local school and classroom cultures are considered in the design, implementation, and interpretation of studies. Studying the nuances of local cultures might illuminate the relationships between school level effectiveness characteristics and the classroom level instructional strategies employed b effective teachers to enhance students' academic achievement This article discusses some Nigerian language examination-oriented instructional strategies' employed in effective language education classrooms. The strategies are compared and contrasted with Tikunoffs (1987) dimensions of effective instruction in die United States. Conceptual and policy assumptions that breed differences of approach in the two domains are highlighted; and implications of the strategies for school improvement programmes in the Third World are discussed.