This study examined elementary and secondary teachers' views about combination classes. Interviews indicated that most teachers preferred not to teach them and believed that such an approach was limited by organizational constraints. Results are interpreted as a consequence of the lack of understanding of developmental theories underpinning…

Presents strategies for planning lessons for home-schoolers, science circuses, and summer science programs with multi-age groups of children. Suggests a spiraling curriculum centered on big ideas and varying a common activity in mixed-ability classrooms. Includes examples of activities for multi-age groups. (KHR)

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 study compared the curriculum, instructional strategies, and organizational formats used by 6 elementary mathematics teachers with multigrade classes and those used by 18 who used either whole-class teaching or ability grouping. Analysis of videotaped lessons found significant differences between groups, suggesting that multigrade classes…

A confusing variety of terms is used in discussions of age grouping practices. This digest examines terms that have important implications for teaching and the curriculum. The terms "nongraded" and "ungraded" typically refer to grouping children in classes without grade-level designations and with more than a 1-year age span.…

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…

Across the country, states are pushing to close their small rural schools with the mistaken hope of saving money, in spite of overwhelming evidence that smaller schools are beneficial for students, and that they frequently function as the glue that binds together small communities, serving as their economic and social hub. The battle is even more…

As the world becomes more diverse socially, culturally, and economically, there are growing expectations that the individual's differences and rights will be recognized, respected, and responded to in positive ways. This book provides teachers of both multi-age and diverse single-age classrooms guidance on classroom organization, curriculum…

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…