Having never embraced behaviorism and its emphasis on fragmented knowledge, direct instruction, and reinforcement contingencies, German schools have fostered a constructivist learning perspective for quite some time. German students are helped to make connections that develop and strengthen their internal knowledge structures and build their…

The major underlying concepts used in developing this Collaborative Teaching Program for intermediate grade level students included the heterogeneous grouping of pupils in a community of learners, the use of quality circle management, and the appropriate use of teaching strategies geared toward the major modes of learning. The community of…

Although multiage grouping is part of a greater approach to change in education, classroom problems can result when the approach's rationale is not understood. Three precepts of vertical grouping concern heterogeneity of student groups, individualized materials and activities, and a caring learning community. Factors influencing successful…

This paper describes a multiage elementary classroom where students can work, learn, and research together. Students ages 6-9 years collaborate on whole-class research inquiries and individual projects. The paper presents examples of these children's work as ethnographers, emphasizing the importance of honoring students' creative abilities. (SM)

This description of a curricular adaptation decision-making process focuses on tenets of reflective practice as teachers design instruction for students in heterogeneous classrooms. A case example illustrates how an elementary teaching team transformed lessons to accommodate a wide range of learners in a multiage first- and second-grade classroom.…

Six teachers from small and rural schools throughout the Northeast were selected as the 1990-91 Laboratory Fellows by the Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast and Islands. These teachers were chosen for their exceptional strategies for incorporating multilevel grouping in their classrooms, grades 6-12. This publication…

Before 1970, no mixed-age groups existed in Swedish nursery schools. By 1991, 43 percent of children enrolled in nursery school were in mixed-age groups of ages 1 to 6 years, and 37 percent were in groups of children ages 3 to 6 years. Mixed-age groups are assumed to have advantages, including positive influences on learning and social…

The purpose of the Meeting Students' Needs in the Multiage Group Environment (MSN) program was to provide an instructional system to meet the needs of elementary school students of differing achievement, age, and grade level who are in the same classroom. The program, for kindergarten through grade six, was characterized by an innovative…

Project Success is a teacher, administrator, and university faculty designed program, aimed to improve teacher motivation and pedagogical skills, student attitudes and achievement, and parent attitudes in science and mathematics education for kindergarten through grade 3. The project used an education program that was self-pacing and…