This review of the literature summarizes findings on instructional grouping issues and academic achievement of gifted elementary students. The review addresses problems of using standardized tests to evaluate instructional effectiveness of grouping arrangements, distinctions between providing the same curriculum and a differentiated curriculum to…

A study described the social interactions of ability-grouped dyads as they construct knowledge of the scientific concept of balance to elucidate the relationship between interactions and conceptual growth. The verbal and nonverbal behaviors of 30 fifth-grade students were recorded as they completed three activities related to balance and levers.…

A study investigated ability grouping for reading within a heterogeneous classroom and the effect such grouping has on attitudes toward reading. Subjects, 23 students in an ethnically diverse third-grade classroom in central Virginia, completed reading attitude surveys. Classroom observations of the teacher and students were conducted. Results…

This executive summary reports on a study which utilized meta-analysis and best-evidence synthesis techniques to evaluate 13 research studies on the academic, social, and psychological effects upon learners who are gifted and talented of three grouping practices: (1) ability grouping for enrichment; (2) mixed ability cooperative grouping for…

The purpose of the study described in this paper was to explore the experience of student teachers working in a track-system and the meaning drawn from that experience. In order to gain access to this meaning, the method of in-depth, phenomenological interviewing was utilized. This research model is based on a format that one makes meaning of his…

This research evaluated mathematics achievement and attitudinal effects of three instructional methods directed in varying degrees toward accommodating diversity in students' prior achievement. Two randomized field experiments of 16 and 18 weeks' duration, respectively, compared an individualized model, Team Assisted Individualization (TAI); an…

Student attrition in community colleges has high financial costs for the institutions and high psychological costs for both students and instructors. In order to deal with attrition, it is necessary to examine the sort of interventions which motivate students to stay in classes, rather than accepting attrition as an inevitability. A major factor…

Certain rights inherently belong to students; they do not have to be earned and cannot be given or taken according to the whims of the administration. (JH)

A father describes how the public school system made his daughter, Charlie, into a disabled reader. Charlie had experienced early reading success both at home and in kindergarten, and enjoyed reading. Placed in the low reading group in first grade, Charlie resisted the dull, structured exercises of remedial reading instruction which she received…

This publication includes two papers by John Hollifield, three ERIC Digests and two ERIC resource lists on group learning, and a reprint of an ERIC search on cooperative learning in elementary and middle schools. The two papers are titled: (1) "Cooperative Learning in Elementary Schools: From Supplemental Instructional Practice to Schoolwide…

The use of ability variables for grouping students is pervasive in elementary schools. Teachers form these groups judgmentally, taking into account formal (e.g., test) and informal (e.g., personal observation) sources of information. Their judgments of students' abilities are reasonably accurate. Such grouping can be explained as functional on…

A study was conducted to determine (1) if teachers treated differing ability reading groups within their classes differently, (2) if teacher behaviors affected mean group achievement, and (3) if so, if that effect was similar for both high and low achieving reading groups. The study involved 14 classes, 39 reading groups, and 277 students. The…

Youth sport programs must offer children the opportunity to participate successfully and without injury, and the optimum development of each child should be the ultimate aim of all sport programs. A classification system can achieve these goals by accurate testing and placement of participants. Classification is needed because children do not grow…

RECENT FEDERAL REPORTS ON NEGRO ACHIEVEMENT IN BIRACIAL SCHOOLS SUGGEST THAT ON THE AVERAGE NEGROES AND WHITES ACHIEVE BEST IN WHITE-MAJORITY SCHOOLS, AND THAT THE RACIAL CONTACT IS AN IMPORTANT VARIABLE IN THIS EFFECT. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN BIRACIAL LEARNING SETTINGS POINTS TO THREE FACTORS WHICH MAY HAVE A DETRIMENTAL EFFECT ON NEGRO…

A LISTING OF 143 IMPORTANT RESEARCH REPORTS COMPLETED ON READING AND CLOSELY RELATED TOPICS COVERING PRESCHOOL THROUGH COLLEGE AND ADULT YEARS IS PRESENTED. RELEVANT ISSUES OF "RESEARCH IN EDUCATION," THE "OFFICE OF EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORTS, 19656-65, RESUMES" (OE-12029, $1.75), AND "OFFICE OF EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORTS, 1956-65, INDEXES"…