This is the first semester that I have taken a lot of education classes at one time and I learn new things everyday! Good and bad...
I've been reading all these articles on positive aspects and, well, the mostly negative aspects of ability grouping. From the readings, it is clear to me that ability grouping can be very detrimental to the so-called "low-track" students. But that's not what I want to write about...
I'm just curious if any of you experienced ability grouping while you were in elementary/secondary school?
I didn't think I had, but I'm beginning to remember some things that happened in elementary school. I remember some time around the 4th or 5th grade, myself and some other students would get pulled out of class by some lady a couple times a week to "play a game" - it was a math game. We all thought it was so much fun and we felt so "cool" to be able to get out of class and spend time with this lady. I didn't know it then, but the more I think about it, I sucked at math and I guess that little game was a way to help me learn math. It's strange, really, that I didn't realize it then but I guess they made it out to be so much fun that I just felt privileged!
Now, that is just one instance and clearly it didn't hold me back at all - I think we were all young enough to be oblivious to what was going on. But I was just curious if any of you had any experiences with ability grouping and whether or not it affected you? I can imagine that tracking like this in the high school level would be really strange - whether you were in the advanced classes or the lower level classes. No one wants to be considered stupid. But at the same time, no one wants to be the nerd either. Self esteem is so fragile at that age, that everyone just wants to be normal.
I guess I'm just curious about all this.

Cindy,
This post deals more with grouping than the rest of your post, but I just wanted to throw my opinion in there. Grouping is some what of a new strategy that allows students to not only understand the material at hand but at the same time work on social skills. Being that it is my last semester I have taken the majority of education classes at APP and you have only gotten the tip of the iceberg on grouping, but for the most part grouping is a good thing. The reason most people have problems with grouping is because they don’t know how to pair students in a way that will assist in learning. There are several good books that deal with cooperative learning here is one that i thought was very helpful, Classroom Management for Secondary Teachers, 6th edition, by Emmer, Evertson, and Worsham. Allyn & Bacon: 2003. ISBN No. 0-2-5-34995-1. Hope this helps you out.

Well, this is my last semester too...I just haven't been introduced to grouping before now. I've only read a little bit about grouping and tracking and so far all that I've read has been somewhat negative. I'm just curious to hear from you about the ways in which it is a good thing...I'm sure there are good reasons and would really like to know.

I need to clarify here:

Cindy's question is about "ability grouping" or "tracking", not "cooperative learning". Those are two 100% different things. The later concerns working with others, often with students who have different strengths than your own, while the former is about being grouped according to perceived ability.

I'd second Cindy's question: What kinds of experiences have you all had with tracking or ability grouping? (If you're not sure what that means, just check out your assigned reading. The articles should help clear up any questions you might have.)

I would make a distinction between "pull-out" programs that take kids out of a classroom for tutoring, speech, enrichment, etc like Cindy seems to have experienced, and "ability grouping" which would take a whole classroom of kids and divide it along lines of presumed academic ability.

When my son was in 2nd grade he was identified as academically gifted and was taken out of the classroom with a few others each week for enrichment activities. But he had already formed a prejudice about the whole concept of being pulled out of the classroom--I guess he assumed that being taken out meant you needed remediation for something. He never did want to be in AG programs through elementary and middle school.

I see a big difference from school to school in whether ability grouping is utilized, but at the high school level with honors and AP classes, there is a lot more of it.

Dana

Thanks for making that distinction Dana! - I think I wrote a confusing post! The readings are mostly concerned with taking certain low-achieving or high-achieving students and putting them in their own seperate classrooms, apart from the "average" or "normal" students (I wish I had a better word...). That is what I find can be somewhat detrimental to students (especially the low-achievement ones). By pulling them out of class and placing them in their own group (not to mention, as the author explains, a predominantly black and male group) and giving them, what many people would consider a "basic" education, you're essentially limiting their opportunities to succeed. Most students who find themselves in the "low track" don't make it back into regular classrooms.
I just want to clarify that I mentioned my little math game story, not as an example of tracking, but just because it was my only example of a similar experience.
Dana, I think it's very interesting that your son, even in the 2nd grade, didn't want to be in AG classes. That must be difficult as a parent, to make that decision, since the teachers are telling you your son is AG, yet your son doesn't want that distinction. Just curious as to how you made that decision.
I find all of this really interesting.

Is ability grouping harmful? I actually think so. As I was reading the article, memories from as far back as first grade came flooding into my mind. I remember being classified into different reading groups. One day, when I was confused, I went from the blue group to the red group (which I guess was a little easier). I still remember that day. I stayed in that group until second grade. But the groups still existed in second grade, and I was placed into the corresponding reading group. One day, however, my teacher questioned why I was in that group and placed me back into the blue group. I felt better about myself, but was still confused as to the whole reason we were in the groups in the first place. In seventh grade, our class was divided in half for science and math. Being placed in the group with the "smart kids" I remember feeling more pressure to keep up and was often teased for being in this group. I think sometimes teachers do not understand how much a seemingly little action such as placing students into ability groups affects a student. At least for me, those memories are forever indelibly etched in my memory. As for cooperative learning, I'm all for that. I really think one student can teach another and vice-versa when they are in the classroom. Random pairings allow the students to get to know someone they might not otherwise have, but also they allow for a virtually no-pressure atmosphere (unless, of course, there are other underlying circumstances preventing a harmonious relationship disallowing cooperation between students).

I do think that ability grouping is really helpful for teachers. I'm sure we've all learned about how time consuming and important it is to account for all of the different learning levels in a classroom. Furthermore, if some of the students in the class are quick learners, then you're boring them when have to slow things down or re-explain things for the slower learners. That would also mean that you can't really challenge the quicker learners because the slower ones can't grasp things that quickly. This can be dealt with by grouping within the classroom, but like I said above, that is really time consuming for a teacher. I'm not implying that as teachers we shouldn't be willing to give lots of our time to prepare for lessons, but grouping would allow a teacher to prepare more for a certain ability level and therefore hopefully provide them with a more high quality lesson fit to their needs. The book mentions that the lower level students are "denied access to high quality instruction". Ideally, I think that if grouping has to occur, a teacher of a group of lower skilled students should give them plenty of chances to be successful while still challenging them.

I agree with Erin, grouping students seems to add problems come later on in life. The teacher should have the ability to teach to the class and incorporate all levels of learning in his/her lessons. Think of it this way; if you don't have a certian group in the class then will you ever challenge other students to think outside of thier own thoughts? You need to have a rounded group of different abilities to achieve any sort of grasp in what the real world has out there. If your in a group of your own abilities are you ever really challeneged?

I think that sometimes, for remedial purposes, the grouping can be very helpful. But, as the article pointed out, it's important that these groupings aren't concrete. Once you're back on track, that's it. Furthermore, as a few of the articles pointed out, it is very important that these classes are taught by the best teachers, and not the new teachers (which is how I've been told that it often is). Only the best teachers will know how to handle the challenges that these classes will bring as far as classroom management, morale, student motivation, etc.

My daughter's fourth grade teachers went a little crazy with grouping this year and it got them into some trouble with parents. The teachers team teach between the two classrooms. They took the two rooms and divided the students into the A group (the "smart kids") and the B group (the "low" kids). This would be bad enough if the division had only been for academics, but the teachers also decided it would just be easier to leave the kids in these groups for lunch, enrichment and PE as well! Needless to say many parents wondered why their children were never with their peers from homeroom. It was also considered by some to be very condescending to refer to the "smart" kids as the A group and the "low" kids as the B group. Some parents went as far as to call Raleigh to find out the legalities of tracking! Needless to say, the children were allowed to go back to their regular schedule of lunch, PE etc. but from what I can tell they are still sadly divided academically.
It seems to me that as teachers we should be very careful in our decisions about grouping students. Sometimes it might be necessary to instruct and group based on level of competence. But ther is also so much that can be accomplished in the classroom without making these divisions.

I really liked what Ty had to say about diversity in the classroom and the intergration of learners. I don't remember much about grouping in my elementary years, but I do work those aged kids in reading. I hope that because my kids are getting special attention with their reading skills that it will not mean that later on they will be placed in the lower tract classes. At to elementary age one on one tutoring isn't really grouping, but giving the kids who need more help and attention, more help.

As far as middle and high school goes I can completely remember which kids were dumb, which were smart, and which were just average like me. I thought that I was dumb because I couldn't be in the smart classes with some of my friends and take special field trips. When I was in middle grades I think I was just fine with mediocrity because that's where they put me. In high school I attemped some AP classes because I asked to be in those classes. But I never felt as smart as the others and didn't really think I belonged in there with the smarties.

I know know after going through college that I simply had different learning abilities.

I really do think that grouping and tracking will force kids into self fulfilling prophecies.

Unfortunately, sometimes you will have certain classes for difficult kids. I don't know if that is a good thing or not. Like at WCHS they have the Frontier Academy for special need/ at-risk students. To me it seems that these classes are simply allowing these kids to do nothing.

Is it better to have these kids in a class like this so they at least are learning a little and staying in school.....or is it better to have them in "regular" classes, in which they my casue distractions or drop out?