Sapon-Shevin's classroom scenarios featuring creative, inclusive adaptations for gifted students are unrealistic. Special programs for advanced learners are typically established because their needs are overlooked in regular classrooms. Teachers are more inclined to make adjustments for struggling learners than for advanced ones. By viewing gifted…

Shares how one first year teacher learned an important lesson about what to expect from students of low ability levels. Discusses how students in the "low" reading group succeeded in reading and understanding the reading materials of the "high" group that they had mistakenly been given. (MG)

Recent research suggests that ability grouping and tracking do not increase overall achievement in schools but promote inequality. High-track teachers are more enthusiastic and spend more time preparing lessons, whereas low-track teachers spend more time on behavior management and less on instruction. A sidebar by Cloyd Hastings demands abolition…

During the the Secondary School Showcase, which was held by Brown University's Education Alliance in Providence, Rhodie Island last January 2004, schools from across the country showed that educational equity can be achieved through heterogeneous grouping of students and through differentiating instruction to meet all learners' needs. According to…

This study investigated the relationship between examinee proficiency and the structure of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the Speaking Proficiency in English Assessment Kit (SPEAK). Specifically, using multi-group structural equation modeling, this study tested two competing hypotheses about the relationship: whether or not…

This article comes largely from observations made on-the-job while teaching mathematics in a government high school in the ACT. The issues canvassed will be familiar to those who have considered the arguments for and against ability grouping in mathematics education. It is speculative in nature, hinting at a synthesis of opposing views in the…

This report contains information shared with participants of the 1992 Common Destiny Conference, which focused on the consequences of academic tracking and other sorting practices that often result in the separation of children by race, class, or ethnicity. The conference also highlighted the latest relevant research on tracking and ability…

Describes the work of the Education Committee of the ASE on mixed ability teaching which includes the collection and coordination of information offered by teachers, the dissemination of information, and the preparation of a booklet in this field. (GS)

Study supported by U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Project No. 5-8470-2-12-1.

GUIDANCE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IS A SERVICE TO ASSIST ALL CHILDREN IN MAKING MAXIMUM USE OF THEIR ABILITIES. IT ATTEMPTS TO IDENTIFY EARLY THE INTELLECTUAL, EMOTIONAL, SOCIAL AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PUPIL. STATISTICS INDICATE THAT IN THE FUTURE, JOBS WILL DEMAND EVEN MORE EDUCATION AND TRAINING. SINCE POTENTIAL HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE…

THE CHANGING ROLES OF THREE VISUAL-SPATIAL ABILITIES (SPATIAL ORIENTATION, VISUALIZATION, AND PERCEPTUAL SPEED) IN THE PERFORMANCE OF GROSS MOTOR SKILLS AT SUCCESSIVE STAGES DURING THE LEARNING PERIOD WERE STUDIED. THE SUBJECTS CONSISTED OF 48 WOMEN, AGES 17 TO 24, WHO WERE EQUALLY ASSIGNED TO EITHER OF TWO SECTIONS AND SUBDIVIDED INTO THREE…

This booklet provides a synthesis of the few existing well-designed studies of ability grouping's status and impact. The body of the report has three main sections: preliminary statements, conclusions, and recommendations. The preliminary statements serve to define ability grouping and outline the ways in which it is used. The conclusions are…

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the issues and principal findings of research on homogeneous and heterogeneous ability grouping, and to consider the implications it may have for evaluating and improving the design of educational settings. To begin with, definitions of terms used in the discussion are given. The paper then proceeds to…