Case studies in conceptual change: Contextual influences on learning with text

The school in which these observations took place is one of five high schools in a university city in the southwestern United States. Located in the fastest growing and most affluent side of town, the school looks initially more like a resort than a high school. Students in this school of about 2,000 typically score at or above the national, state, and county averages on standardized tests, like the SAT and ACT. The students also scored higher (on the average) than did.students at the district’s other four high schools in reading, writing, and math on the state’s test, the Arizona State Assessment Program (ASAP). About 25% of the school’s population, however, has been classified asbeing “at risk�? of dropping out.