Presents a study based on interviews with two groups of British primary school children after they had completed a project in which the children were taught in mixed-ability and mixed-gender groups with the purpose of improving their literacy. Presents the findings using transcribed extracts from the group interviews. (CMK)

This article examines differentiation by task as it is used and perceived in French and English primary schools. It highlights the influence of national context on teaching and learning. The study rests on classroom observations in 12 Key Stage 1 classes located in socially disadvantaged areas. The first section sets the mission of schooling in a…

Assigning students to different classes on the basis of their achievement levels (tracking, streaming, or ability grouping) is an extensively used strategy with widely debated consequences. The authors developed a model of the effects of tracking on self-concept and interest that integrates the opposing predictions of "assimilation" and…

Regardless of individual differences at kindergarten entry, schools have a mission to promote reading achievement for all students. Within-class ability grouping is an instructional strategy that has received attention for its potential benefits to students. The authors assessed the effects of within-class ability grouping on kindergarten reading…

Twenty-five percent of California's elementary schoolchildren attend schools operating on nontraditional, staggered, overlapping attendance calendars collectively referred to as multitrack year-round education (MT-YRE). This case study reveals substantial differences in the characteristics of students and teachers across the four attendance tracks…

This article examines ethnic segregation, defined as segregation among racial groups as well as between native-born and immigrant students, across elementary school classrooms in New York City. Specifically, the study compares patterns in within-school segregation across ethnic groups, grades, boroughs, and years. Current levels of within-school…

This article examines learning opportunities for gifted and talented students. Districts and states have developed innovative programs that include mentorships, Saturday programs, after-school enrichment activities and summer internships. However, recent experiences suggest strongly that this attention has decreased in the years following the…

The United States has been engaged in school reform for three decades. The federal government as well as all fifty states have passed numerous versions of reform legislation to mandate and regulate the process. Educators have adjusted their practices to the policy created by this legislation. They have also allocated hundreds of billions of…

The injustices of tracking or ability grouping according to degrees of learning, first noted in reading classes throughout elementary grades, can have a bad effect on little children, who do not understand these injustices. In the history of the rural school, where individual help and cooperative learning were practiced, no child was labeled a…

Earlier practices in the teaching of literature offered one standard of success and one method of lesson delivery for everyone. This did not make it possible for students to reach their individual potentials. The resulting idea of attending to the individual formed the basis for ability grouping. However, placement into lower groups resulted in…

This report contains tabular summaries based on data collected from the Survey of High School Curricular Options. The national survey was conducted in response to the growing controversy over the implications that curriculum differentiation, or tracking, has for American school children. The tables present statistics on the policies and practices…

This paper describes some of the race discrimination issues in education that are most pressing 40 years after the "Brown v. Board of Education" decision and offers ways in which lawyers and educators can help address such discrimination. The following race discrimination issues in education are likely to produce conflict: (1) the use of…

Findings from a study that examined the effects of homogeneous ability grouping on the attitudes of secondary students toward themselves and their learning experiences are presented in this paper. Methodology involved administration of an attitudes questionnaire to 110 students enrolled in the 10th- and 11th-grade English classes at a high school…

The differences in effects of heterogeneous and homogeneous regrouping for math on academic ability and self-concept in math were investigated. Five sixth-grade students from both grouping placements were interviewed to determine their self-concept of their math abilities. All students labeled as average or below from both placements were given an…

Florida educators, parents, and school board members are intensely debating the issue of tracking and ability grouping. After summarizing recent research affirming the deleterious effects of ability grouping, this report describes a survey of 600 Florida educators regarding their perceptions of this practice and their beliefs about its…