Archived: The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings

Perceived Sources of Differences in
Ability and the Range of Differences
Within the Classroom
While Americans are reluctant to close doors of opportunity to students based on
individual differences in ability, the existence of these differences is openly
acknowledged by teachers, administrators, and parents. Many teachers and parents
talked about the substantial range of differences in ability among students in their
schools and the difficulties the students encountered. The differences observed in
the classroom were attributed to a variety of factors, but most respondents sug-
gested that family life was crucial in explaining such differences. Family support
was seen as essential to high achievement in the classroom, while low achieve-
ment was attributed to lack of family support, poverty, divorce, abuse, and ne-
glect. The negative effects of poverty and social inequality on issues concerning
family support were central in discussions of individual differences in Metro City
and West City and, to a lesser extent, in East City.
The emphasis on the family in explaining individual differences in ability is espe-
cially interesting, because we usually asked respondents to consider the relative

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contributions of innate ability and effort, without directly asking about the impact
of the family. Innate ability and effort were also considered important factors by
many respondents, but these were seen as byproducts of family support. Once
respondents mentioned family support, we usually asked them to elaborate, and
the semistructured interview format allowed respondents to reply in depth.
The following was a typical response to the question about the origins of individ-
ual differences given by respondents from all socioeconomic levels:
I think that it is a combination of the two (innate ability and effort)—a little
of both. Culture is very important at Uptown, but I think that the most impor-
tant thing is family support. For example, I just heard about a Down’s syn-
drome child who graduated from college. Well, he was able to do it because
he had a lot of family support. (English teacher, Uptown High School)
Similar views were held by teachers, parents and students; the emphasis was typi-
cally on the role of family support.