Teachers’ strategies for implementation of de-streaming in secondary mathematics classes

Abstract

Moves toward the adoption of a middle school philosophy and to outcomes-focused education, both of which are apparent in Australia, are likely to be accompanied by a move away from streaming or tracking students into ability groups. It is claimed that successful teaching of students in unstreamed classes requires an enriched program that caters for the needs of the wide range of students, new approaches to instruction, and the adoption of a variety of assessment strategies. This study reports on the strategies adopted by a group of teachers in Ontario, Canada, as they implemented de-streaming with Grade 9 classes. Teachers were found to be making special provision for both low- and high-achieving students and employing a wide range of techniques for assessing student progress. However, they did not embrace cooperative learning techniques as one of their teaching strategies, nor was problem solving found to be a prominent feature of their lessons.