The purpose of this study is to investigate the changes based on the three-year academic achievement of middle school students in innovation and general schools. To achieve this research objective, data were utilized from data of Gyeonggi Education Panel Study: GEPS 2012 (2015-2017) conducted by Gyeonggi Institute of Education, and t-test, latent growth model, and growth mixture model analysis were used.
The results of this study are as follows. First, except for the first year of middle school, innovation school students showed higher performance than general school students. Second, according to the result of latent Growth Model analysis, innovation schools affect positively the change rate in students achievement. Third, both in innovation schools and in general schools, the changes of students’ achievement can be divided into four types(upper/rising-middle/falling-middle/ lower). Fourth, there were differences between the types of schools in terms of the ratio of achievement groups and the patterns of change in detail. Innovation schools showed an even
percentage of upper, middle, and lower classes, while general schools had a relatively lower middle class, with higher upper and lower classes. In terms of the extent of the change in achievement within the upper, middle and lower achievement groups, innovation schools were more positive than general schools.