The aim of this study is to identify the main problems that arise in multigrade classrooms. This research was designed as a case study. The data were obtained through interviews and observations. Participants of the study consist of 10 teachers working in multigrade classrooms in a district in the Mediterranean region in Turkey. The data were…

Effective inclusion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in multi-grade classrooms is complex, depending on the ability of teachers to meet challenges posed in delivering a broad and balanced curriculum while simultaneously meeting the often quite specific needs of pupils with SEN. This paper details the findings of research which…

Replying to Robert H. Anderson's article in the same "Principal" issue, David Elkind defends his article against classroom rotation. Elkind strongly favors multiage grouping and team teaching, but views the real issue as departmentalization and rotation versus self-contained classrooms. Although multiage grouping and team teaching are…

Responding to David Elkind's article in the May 1988 issue of "Principal," this article reexamines classroom rotation for elementary students, challenges Elkind's argument against this practice, and proposes rotation as a way to increase students' options through team teaching. Includes two references. (MLH)

Illustrates the benefits and challenges of team-teaching in a multi-age classroom by describing one school's efforts at implementing language arts instruction within an interdisciplinary approach. Discusses initiating multi-age grouping and the advantages and challenges of multi-age classrooms. Offers recommendations. (SR)

Describes an innovative program of multi-age team teaching to provide individualized instruction in both academic and personality development. (AN)

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…

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…

This article describes a multiage classroom led by three co-teachers who facilitate the education of 42 students ages six through nine years. The classroom is located in a public school district that practices inclusion and subscribes to the principles of whole schooling. A literature review defines the concepts of co-teaching, multiage education,…

This document is a compilation of the responses to an innovations survey form sent to each district and each school administrator in the county. A subject index reflects the variety of innovations reported, and an additional index by school is provided at the end of the compilation. Schools are grouped alphabetically by school district and…

Multiunit school organization increases teacher participation in making decisions that directly affect them through decentralized decisionmaking -- a shift from individual to group decisions. A survey of teachers revealed that those in multiunit schools were more satisfied with their profession than were those in traditionally organized schools,…

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.…

To help educators continue to refine approaches to nourishing children's imaginations, this bibliography brings together 652 references on alternative school systems. The references are arranged into 17 categories and indexed by subject category and author. The categories include alternative, cooperative, experimental, interdisciplinary, and…

Notes the increasing availability of prekindergarten programs for four-year-olds and describes a program that groups four- and five-year-olds together. Covers the program's instructional goals; reasons for using multi-aged grouping, cooperative teaching, and structured planning time; curriculum; interaction with parents; and dependence on the…

In this book, an experienced elementary school teacher recounts how she and three other teachers of grades 4, 5, and 6 decided to relax the compartmentalization of learning into subject areas and shuffle subject matter into new patterns to offer students a voice in their education. The book describes how the teachers created a multiage…