Although bound by tradition and physical location to elementary schooling, the primary grades are also considered the capstone experience of early childhood education. Primary grade teachers are required to bridge these two disparate worlds, constantly mediating, negotiating, translating, and compromising. This paper describes the experience of…

Addresses the benefits of multiage grouping of primary students in small, rural schools. Reports on a survey indicating that 20 of 49 school districts in a rural state employed multiage grouping. Stresses the importance of considering child development when implementing multiage grouping, and concludes that multiage grouping may be the future of…

This book reports on a three-part qualitative research study examining multiage classrooms from different perspectives. Part 1 of the book describes the activities of a K-3 multiage classroom, based on 40 days of observation and participation. The four chapters in this part offer a description of a typical day in the observed classroom; a brief…

Under the Kentucky Education Reform Act, public schools in Kentucky were required to restructure the traditional kindergarten through third-grade classes into a multi-age and multi-ability level, ungraded primary program during the 1993-1994 school year. Classrooms that once contained children at relatively the same age have been replaced with…

This early childhood curriculum study focused on the practical understandings that teachers held about their classroom experiences, as a way of gaining access to the dynamics of curriculum implementation and innovation. Two problems were addressed: (1) the lack of knowledge about the dynamics of curriculum implementation in settings where early…

Examined teachers' beliefs on what constitutes developmentally appropriate literacy instruction. Three teachers were interviewed, observed during planning and instruction time, and asked to reflect on their beliefs and practicing. Through practice, they came to believe that appropriate literacy instruction involves a variety of instructional…

This study examined the implementation of the seven critical attributes of the primary school curriculum mandated by the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) in a single multi-age primary classroom. The study used a case-study approach over a 16-month period. The seven attributes observed are: (1) developmentally appropriate practices; (2)…