This paper traces the origins of educational tracking, streaming, or grouping to the period between the report of the Committee of Ten in 1894 and the publication of the Cardinal Principles of Education in 1918. The analysis of grouping, in its origin and in its consequences for students, concludes that its effect on the subject of English has been catastrophic, its need is unproved, and its principles are of dubious character. While it is not suggested that grouping be dropped from the English curriculum, it is suggested that the subject of grouping receive careful analysis by English educators and researchers alike in order to determine whether it is a fitting response to student needs, backgrounds, and interests. A group statement, "Aims in English," demonstrates that the purposes of English instruction are at odds with the grouping process. Also included is a section on "Improvement and How to Achieve It." Appendixes cover such subjects as whether the objectives of the English courses should be the same for all students, including those who are college bound; the English room as workshop; an inductive approach to English language teaching; and the segregation of students on the basis of merit. (DD)