Within-class Ability Grouping Research Articles

Stakeholders’ perceptions of within-class ability grouping in a primary school physical education unit

ABSTRACT Background Ability grouping in education is the practice of separating students into different groups or classes according to their actual or perceived ability levels. Studies of ability grouping in physical education have been few in number or broad in purpose and methodology. What is certain however is that the voices of students remain principally absent. Purpose To examine the pedagogical practice of physical ability grouping from the perspective of teachers and students following a 20-lesson unit in a primary school physical education class. Method One hundred and sixty-five fifth-grade students from three different physical education classes in the United States participated in 20 lesson units of tchoukball. Students in each class were divided into nine teams making up three leagues: Snakes (higher skilled), Dragons (middle level), and Tigers (lower skilled). Each league was led by one of the three teachers responsible for instruction. Individual interviews were conducted with all three teachers, while 24 interviews were conducted with the student participants. While the interviews were open-ended, particular attention was given to participant perceptions of the ability grouping used in the tchoukball unit. Results Four findings are reported generated from teacher interviews: perceptions of grouping outcomes; (ii) perceptions of student engagement; (iii) impact on teaching; and (iv) future intentions with respect to forming groups in physical education. Four further outcomes were created by capturing the voices of the students: (i) their positive overall perceptions of the unit; (ii) their responses to being in their groups; (iii) interactions with teachers; (iv) comparisons with previous physical education lessons. Discussion The discussion is organized around a set of questions that might be considered by teachers if they decide to initiate ability grouping. They are also designed to serve as possible research questions that could be taken up to advance our understanding of the practices of grouping in physical education. These are: (i) are ‘soft’ approaches to grouping the only defendable option? (ii) (how) is it possible to ensure an even distribution of benefit across all students? (iii) what advantages (if any) are to be gained by providing chances to learn from higher skilled classmates? and (iv) are grouping labels necessary?

Ability-grouping and problem behavior trajectories in childhood and adolescence: Results from a U.K. population-based sample.

Ability-grouping has been studied extensively in relation to children's academic, but not emotional and behavioral outcomes. The sample comprised 7259 U.K. children (50% male) with data on between-class and within-class ability-grouping at age 7. Peer, emotional, hyperactivity, and conduct problems were measured at ages 7, 11, and 14 years. Children in low within-class ability groups showed more hyperactivity and emotional problems across the study period compared to non-grouped children, after adjustments for the different types of ability grouping and confounding. Additionally, children in the middle within-class ability groups showed more, and those in the top within-class groups less, hyperactivity compared to non-grouped children, after adjustment. Children in lower within-class groups should be monitored closely to ensure that their well-being is not compromised.

The manifestations of the practice of within-class homogeneous ability grouping

Background: This article casts the analytical spotlight on the practice of within-class homogeneous (same) ability grouping where learners are placed in small groups for instruction based on their perceived performances, reading levels and interest. Very few studies have focused on within-class ability grouping, especially in a South African context, where this homogeneous style within-class grouping is the dominant practice in Grade 1 classrooms, despite literature’s cautions against its continuous use.Aim: This article aims to address the following questions: what are the manifestations of the practice of within-class homogeneous ability grouping, and how does it account for learner achievement levels in Grade 1 classrooms?Setting: A total of 12 Grade 1 learners, in relation to their teachers and their principals, from three selected public schools in the Western Cape, were interviewed and observed within a classroom setting. Bourdieu’s work is used to explain the interiority and exteriority of social relations, how practice gets internalised and embodied on the inside, and manifested in various ways on the outside.Methods: This empirical exploration used the qualitative-interpretive paradigm and followed a multiple case study approach where 6-year-old Grade 1 learners were observed and analysed.Results: The results show differential treatment of groups and the labelling of learners, which gets internalised constituting particular learner dispositions and resulting in learner agency. Furthermore, it shows how learner agency is being informed and constituted in ways that affect their educational outcomes in profound ways.Conclusion: The author argues that by placing children in groups based on their perceived ability results in the children gaining differential learner experiences and ultimately attaining differential learner achievement levels. In other words, it creates differential environments within the same classroom enabling some to outshine while disabling others.

Setting and within-class ability grouping

Within the United Kingdom and internationally, the practice of separating pupils by ability endures as a characteristic feature of mathematics and science classrooms. Although there is extensive international research literature on ability grouping within classroom-based subjects, limited research exists in the context of physical education (PE). The purpose of this paper is to explore ability grouping in PE in North East of England schools. Specifically, the paper examined the prevalence of setting and within-class ability grouping in PE, the contexts of its use, how sets and within-class ability grouping were established, and the rationales used to justify decisions about setting and within-class ability grouping in the subject. Data were collected via a web-based survey. The electronic survey was sent to 194 PE Heads of Department from North East of England schools catering for pupils in Key Stage 3 (ages 11–14) and/or Key Stage 4 (ages 14–16). The results indicated that setting is embedded in the organisational and pedagogical practices of PE in many secondary schools. Ability also served as a basis upon which to organise pupils within mixed-ability and setted PE lessons. A variety of other factors, including friendship and behaviour, were also reported as factors influencing grouping of pupils in PE lessons. Our discussion directs attention to issues arising for policy and practice in PE and points to the merits of further exploration and analysis of between-class and within-class grouping practices in the subject.

Effects of schoolwide cluster grouping and within-class ability grouping on elementary school students’ academic achievement growth

We evaluated the effects of one year of schoolwide cluster grouping on the academic achievement growth of gifted and non-identified elementary students using a piecewise multilevel growth model. Scores from 186 non-identified and 68 gifted students’ Measures of Academic Progress Reading and Math scores were examined over three school years. In 2008–2009 within-class ability grouping was used. In 2009–2010 schoolwide cluster grouping was implemented. In 2010–2011 students once again were grouped only within classrooms by ability and students identified as gifted were spread across all classrooms at each grade level. Results suggest that schoolwide cluster grouping influenced student performance in the year following its implementation, but only for mathematics and not the area of reading.

Revisiting “Kindergarten as academic boot camp”: a nationwide study of ability grouping and psycho-social development

We revisit Harry L. Gracey’s perspective of kindergarten as academic boot camp where, at school entry, children acquire the student role through a structured program of activities. We provide further insights into the crucial mechanisms of socialization that occur in U.S. kindergartens by examining the relationship between within-class ability grouping and attributes of children’s psycho-social development that are critical for school success. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K) and incorporating stratified propensity scores into multi-level models, our analyses link within-class ability grouping to student behaviors in a manner that supports the concerns raised by ability grouping critics. Children in low ability groups show slower development in approaches to learning than comparable ungrouped children. Children in high ability groups show more accelerated development in all psycho-social attributes considered (approaches to learning, interpersonal skills, self control and externalizing problem behaviors) than comparable ungrouped children. These asymmetrical findings suggest that children placed in high and low ability groups are socialized into different versions of the student role.

Examining Gender Differences in Ability Group Placement at the Onset of Schooling: The Role of Skills, Behaviors, and Teacher Evaluations

ABSTRACT The authors analyzed the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) national data set to investigate gender differences in ability group placement in American kindergartens. They found that in kindergarten, within-class ability grouping was widely used for reading instruction, with boys being underrepresented in high-achieving reading groups and overrepresented in low-achieving ones. Gender differences in reading group placement were consistent across classrooms and were explained by student-level characteristics. Boys’ underrepresentation in high reading groups was explained by their lower reading skills at kindergarten entry, as measured by the reading test scores available in the ECLS-K. By contrast, boys’ overrepresentation in low reading groups was only partially explained by their lower test scores. Compared with girls of similar social background and reading test scores, boys continued to have higher chances of placement into a low reading group. This remaining gender difference was explained by the lower teacher evaluations of boys’ reading skills and approaches to learning. Boys’ disadvantages in reading group placement at school entry raise concern over their further academic success.

An Organizational Perspective on the Origins of Instructional Segregation: School Composition and Use of Within-Class Ability Grouping in American Kindergartens

Background This investigation was sparked by research findings on secondary education showing school segregation to be closely associated with homogeneous grouping practices, such as tracking and between-class ability grouping. Research Design We conduct secondary analyses of national data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K). Objectives Using these data, we investigate the degree to which the racial and ethnic composition of schools is associated with use of ability grouping practices as early as kindergarten. We focus on within-class ability grouping for reading instruction because it is the most common form of homogeneous grouping for the early grades. Results and Conclusions We find that this form of grouping is practiced by a majority of kindergarten teachers and schools, although frequency of use is quite varied, and some teachers and schools use it only sporadically. The most intensive use of within-class ability grouping exists in schools that serve high proportions of minority students and in schools with high variability in students’ reading readiness. The association between student body composition and use of this instructional practice remains even after variability in student academic skills and other structural characteristics of schools are accounted for. Schools serving primarily minority students that use within-class ability grouping have higher average gains in reading achievement by the end of the school year than comparable schools that do not use this form of grouping. Use of this instructional practice is not associated with increases in average achievement gain scores for schools serving students of diverse or primarily White backgrounds. Our findings provide the foundation for further studies of the structural, cultural, and political features of schools associated with the use of ability grouping at the onset of schooling.

The Effects of Within-Class Ability Grouping on Academic Achievement in Early Elementary Years

By incorporating two theoretical frameworks this study examines how school characteristics shape first-grade reading ability-grouping practices, and how this, in turn, affects students’ reading achievement. The author uses the data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study and applies the propensity-score method to examine whether first-grade ability grouping improves student achievement, whether ability grouping increases achievement inequalities, and whether its effects vary by student initial abilities and/or school contexts. Findings support an argument that ability grouping is an organizational response to problems of diversity in the student body. Schools that use ability grouping are likely to have heterogeneous ability compositions. They are also public, low-performing, low socioeconomic status, and high-minority schools. In these schools, ability grouping has no effects or negative effects, particularly for low-ability students. In contrast, ability grouping may improve achievement for all students in schools with advantageous characteristics, mostly private schools, and may reduce achievement inequalities, because low-ability students benefit the most from this practice.

Primary-grade teachers' use of within-class ability grouping in reading.

A random sample of primary-grade teachers from across the United States was surveyed about within-class ability grouping in reading. Sixty-three percent of participants reported using within-class ability groups. Groups are smaller and more flexible than those formed in the past, with teachers emphasizing teaching comprehension, reading vocabulary, and other basic reading skills to each of their groups. Most teachers reported that they used within-class ability grouping because it helps them meet their students' instructional needs, although there were some reasons for concern. For instance, students in lower ability groups spend more time involved in noninstructional activities, are less likely to be asked critical comprehension questions, and are given fewer opportunities to select their own reading material.

Effects of within-class ability grouping on social interaction, achievement, and motivation

This study examined how grouping arrangements affect students achievement, social interaction, and motivation. Students of high, average and low ability were randomly assigned to homogeneous or heterogeneous ability groups. All groups attended the same plant biology course. The main results indicate that low-ability students achieve more and are more motivated to learn in heterogeneous groups. Average-ability students perform better in homogeneous groups whereas high-ability students show equally strong learning outcomes in homogeneous and heterogeneous groups. Results on social interaction indicate that heterogeneous groups produce higher proportions of individual elaborations, whereas homogeneous groups use relatively more collaborative elaborations. In the discussion, these differences in social interaction are used to explain the differential effects of grouping arrangements on achievement scores. Practical implications are discussed and topics for further research are advanced.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies, Perceptual Biases, and Accuracy at the Individual and Group Levels

We examined ability grouping as a moderator of self-fulfilling prophecies in two ways. First, we examined ability group moderation for individual students with data from 1701 students and 97 teachers from sixth-grade math classes. Second, we examined ability group moderation at the class level with data from 108 sixth-grade math classes. Across both sets of analyses, results showed that: (1) teacher perceptions predicted student achievement primarily because those perceptions were accurate; (2) teacher perceptions biased marks for students in heterogenous classes (consistent with perceptual bias); and (3) self-fulfilling prophecies were strongest when students were grouped within classes. We also found that teacher perceptions mediated the relationship between within-class ability grouping and student achievement. Implications for understanding accuracy, the power of self-fulfilling prophecies, and group level perceptions are discussed.

Effects of Two-Group and Whole-Class Teaching on Regrouped Elementary Students’ Mathematics Achievement

The effects of two models of active teaching and active learning on the mathematics achievement of 1,736fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students in 81 classrooms in which teachers used within-grade regrouping were compared: a whole-class model that provided for student diversity through ad hoc remediation and enrichment on a daily basis with small groups (referred to as whole-class ad hoc teaching) and a two-group model that accommodated diversity through fixed within-class ability groups. Nine schools from a midwestern district were matched and randomly assigned to treatment conditions. Treatment teachers received three 90-minute workshops on an active teaching and active learning model consisting of 16 key instructional behaviors. Dependent variables consisted of computation, concepts, problem-solving, and mental mathematics measures. Results showed that students in whole-class ad hoc classes scored significantly higher in mathematics computation than control-group students taught using within-class ability grouping. Observational data explaining these differential effects are presented and discussed.

Ability Grouping and Student Achievement in Elementary Schools: A Best-Evidence Synthesis

This article reviews research on the effects of between- and within-class ability grouping on the achievement of elementary school students. The review technique—best-evidence synthesis—combines features of meta-analytic and narrative reviews. Overall, evidence does not support assignment of students to self-contained classes according to ability (median effect size [ES] = .00), but grouping plans involving cross-grade assignment for selected subjects can increase student achievement. Research particularly supports the Joplin Plan, cross-grade ability grouping for reading only (median ES = +.45). Within-class ability grouping in mathematics is also found to be instructionally effective (median ES = +.34). Analysis of effects of alternative grouping methods suggests that ability grouping is maximally effective when done for only one or two subjects, with students remaining in heterogeneous classes most of the day; when it greatly reduces student heterogeneity in a specific skill; when group assignments are frequently reassessed; and when teachers vary the level and pace of instruction according to students’ needs.

Grouping for Instruction in the elementary School

This article reviews research on the achievement effects of common forms of grouping in elementary schools. Among between-class ability grouping plans, research supports the achievement effects of the Joplin Plan and related programs in which students are regrouped across grade lines for reading and/or math only. In contrast, research on ability-grouped class assignment, where students are assigned to self-contained classes by ability, consistently fails to support this practice. Research on special programs for the gifted and for students with mild academic handicaps is methodologically poor and limited in scope, but tends to support acceleration for the gifted and mainstreaming for the handicapped. Limited evidence on departmentalization recommends against this practice. Certain within-class grouping plans have been found to enhance student achievement. Adequate evidence is lacking on the effects of the use of reading groups, but research on within-class ability grouping in math favors this practice. Us...

Student Characteristics and Assignment to Ability Groups: Two Conceptual Formulations

This article discusses two conceptual formulations of the relationship between students' ascribed and achieved characteristics and their assignment to ability groups for instruction in school. The first formulation is a sophisticated specification of the commonly used educational rationale for within-class ability grouping. It is based on the work of Barr and Dreeben (1983) as elaborated in their book How Schools Work. The second is a sociological model that predicts an independent and separate role of classroom social organization in classroom processes and learning because of the constraints on implementing the educational theory behind ability grouping. This formulation derives from the research program of the authors. The theoretical propositions of the two conceptual models are compared and contrasted and they are subjected to preliminary empirical testing using two data sets on ability groups.