How Group Composition Influenced the Achievement of Sixth-Grade Mathematics Students

Abstract

This article reports on the achievement of 177 sixth-grade mathematics students who were studied during 2 consecutive years at a suburban elementary school in Maryland. The purpose of the study was to determine whether learning and achievement were optimal in heterogeneous or in homogeneous ability groups. In particular, the following research questions were explored: Do heterogeneous and homogeneous small groups differ in mathematics achievement? What influence does group composition have on student interactions in these groups? To answer these questions the students' performance on the Maryland Functional Mathematics Test (MFMT-I; Maryland State Department of Education, 1982) was compared before and after they participated in a year of thematic mathematics activities. The MFMT-I posttest scores were analyzed using the fall pretest as the covariate. The results show a significant difference, F(1, 153) = 6.083, p < .05, between the posttest scores of the 1995 to 1996 heterogeneous cohort (M = 353.73) and the 1996 to 1997 homogeneous cohort (M = 336.91). However, qualitative analysis of transcript data shows that the amount and quality of student interactions may be influenced more by group cohesiveness than group composition.