Special Resource Material Developed by the Center
Title: Matching Students and Instruction: The Dilemma of Grouping Students (Policy Brief)
Description: After damning indictments in the 1970s and 1980s, classroom ability grouping and tracking practices fell into disrepute and declined. Data over the last decade indicate a resurgence of grouping practices in classrooms. As discussions about the negative impact of ability grouping and tracking have reemerged, there is a tendency to by-pass the role of appropriate groupings in matching classroom instruction to learners.
This brief highlights the part grouping plays in facilitating student learning and the dilemma of minimizing potential grouping negative effects. The emphasis is on stressing that (1) appropriate grouping is an essential feature of most efforts to teach in classrooms and (2) providing learning supports when necessary is essential to minimizing negative effects. Access at: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/grouping.pdf 60kb; 13pp
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