In this study primary schools' educational system in small and isolated islands of Greece is presented. These areas are characterized by inaccessibility and isolation as it happens in most multigrade schools. For facing the difficulties of multigrade schooling, curriculums should be engaged with different learning strategies. In this case study…

Small schools are a significant feature of the educational landscape in India, with approximately 78% of primary schools having three or fewer teachers to attend to all grade levels, and more than 55% with 100 or fewer students in 2005. These schools are commonly found in impoverished rural communities, where they are often characterised by the…

This paper examines the organizational changes introduced in two elementary schools to create unitary (desegregated) classrooms. The different models adopted by the two schools--departmentalization and team teaching--are considered as expressions of their patterns of interaction, behavior, and values. (Part of a theme issue on educational…

Multigrade schooling is a strategy to increase the educational opportunities of children in situations where it is impractical to have one primary school teacher per grade because of the limited size of the student population. In a multigrade school, teachers manage two or more classes simultaneously. A single teacher may be responsible for all…

Discusses the organization and operation of multi-age classrooms in an elementary school in Nevada. Describes how teachers working with primary classrooms of first and second graders, and intermediate classrooms of third, fourth, and fifth graders, created an adaptive, flexible, and dynamic curriculum that could serve the needs of their…

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.…

As part of an international comparative study of active learning in seven countries, a case study examined active learning practices of students and teachers in a small rural school in Finland. Small schools have traditionally existed in the sparsely populated Finnish countryside, and 60 percent of Finnish elementary schools have 1-3 teachers.…

The single-grade model of education, based on the division of labor in industry, has come to dominate the school, class, and curriculum organization used by central authorities. Although the multi-grade model is common in developing countries and in rural areas of industrialized countries, the knowledge required for effective multi-grade teaching…

Over half of Finnish elementary schools are small schools employing 1-3 teachers. This paper examines the implementation of new national curriculum policies in two small elementary schools. The new policies, adopted in 1994, stress autonomous control of learning and encourage each individual school, in collaboration with the community, to draw up…

An examination of the issues surrounding the concept of change is fundamental to curriculum improvement for elementary and middle schools. New beliefs surround an integrative rather than a separate subject isolation approach to curriculum. This report examines past, current, and future curriculum practice and considerations, focusing on a new…

Studies have criticized age-graded schools as creating a barrier to meeting the goals of equity and instructional excellence in schools. This handbook provides research on multiage classroom practices and argues that a multiage system better addresses and meets students' needs. Information is presented on the following topics: educational reform,…