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Preview — Ability Grouping in Education by Judith Ireson

Ability Grouping in Education provides an overview of ability grouping in education. The authors consider selective schooling and ability grouping within schools, such as streaming, banding setting and within-class grouping.
Published January 7th 2002 by Sage Publications Ltd (first published September 5th 2000)
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Education Books On Ability Grouping In Elementary Schools


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Aug 07, 2012Lawrence Linnen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
A must read for any teacher considering ability grouping.
Jul 15, 2008Kate rated it really liked it · review of another edition
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Ability Grouping

Ability grouping, a type of homogenous grouping, simply means grouping together students of similar ability levels.Teachers may use it for a variety of reasons, and when used appropriately, ability grouping can help students be successful in the classroom.When used inappropriately, however, it may actually do more harm than good. Continue reading to learn about some of the positives and neagtives associated with ablity grouping.

Positive Aspects of Ability Grouping

Students Are Not Forced To Wait Or Rush

When you place students of the same ability together, they usually are able to work at about the same pace.This means the students that understand the concept you are teaching can move on to a more advanced stage and the ones that need extra guidance can slow down and get extra help.No one is waiting on someone else to grasp a concept (that they already understand) and no one is being forced to move on before they are ready.

Teacher Can Work More Intensely With Those That Need Help

When you divide your class into ability groups, you will have groups that completely understand the topic and are ready to move on to something new.You will have groups that understand most of the concept but need some extra practice, and you will have groups that need extra instruction and guidance before they can progress.Since they are seated and working together, you can take this opportunity to sit with the ones that need extra instruction and provide it for them.The other students have their assignments, so they are busy working on material that has been tailored to fit their needs, so this frees you up to spend some time with those who need it.

Students Are Allowed to “Fly' On Their Own

The students that clearly understand a concept have time to move forward and progress at a faster pace and possibly move on to a more complex topic.This can build self-esteem and alleviate boredom in the classroom.

Negative Aspects of Ability Grouping

Students May Get “Stuck' In a Group

It is important to remember that no student is perfect at everything and no student is bad at everything.Sometimes, when we ability group it is easy to label students and place them in the same low, middle, or high group time after time.This can lead to labeling, (the “nerdy group' or the “dumb group') something teachers want to avoid at all costs.Afterall, a huge part of our job is to make our students feel confident and secure.

It is easy to avoid this by using a data notebook to track students’ progress.This way you do not unintentionally place students in the same groups time after time.If you follow the data, students will actually be placed according to their ability.

If you do notice that students are consistently being placed in the same group, you might want to shake things up and step away from ability grouping for awhile, or try some heterogeneous grouping.School is hard enough for our students, we certainly don’t want to give anyone a reason to bully or tease a classmate.

Additional Work For The Teacher

Ability grouping can add additional work for the teacher… and teachers are certainly busy enough.Ability grouping is not something that has to be done every day, or even every week if you are having a particularly busy week.Figure out the concepts where you seem to have the most differing abilities and use ability grouping only in those areas.Ability grouping can be very beneficial, but only if it is done thoughtfully and with a plan in mind.If you are simply too busy to undertake it one week, put it off until the next.

Ability grouping can be looked at as simply another tool in your toolbox.Pull it out when you need it and when it will work for both you and your students.

This post is part of the series: Group Work In the Classroom

A three part series dedicated to the issues surrounding the use of group work in the classroom.
Homogeneous groups in educational settings is defined as groups of students organized so that students of similar instructional levels are placed together, working on materials suited to their particular level, as determined through assessments. These groups are also known as ability groups.
Homogeneous groups can be contrasted directly with heterogeneous groups in which students of varying abilities are grouped together.
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Education Books On Ability Grouping
Also Known As: Ability-Based Groups

Examples of Homogenous Groups in Educational Settings

When organizing reading groups, the teacher puts all of the 'high' students together in their own group. Then, the teacher meets with all of the 'high' readers at the same time and read a 'higher' book with them, and so on, through the various reading levels that exist in the class.
When composing classrooms for the year, a school may group the talented and gifted students into a TAG classroom, while grouping students who have intellectual, emotional, or physical challenges into a different classroom. Students who fall into the middle of the spectrum are assigned to a different classroom.

Education Books On Ability Grouping Chart

Students may be grouped by ability for specific subjects, but be in a heterogenous classroom most of the day. There may be an advanced math group and a group for students who need more assistance in meeting grade level for math.

Advantages of Homogenous Groups

A homogenous group can have a lesson plan tailored to the ability of the group as a whole, rather than having to address students with a variety of abilities and needs.
Students may feel more comfortable in a group of their peers who are able to learn at about the same speed. Advanced students may not feel the pressure they experience in a heterogenous group to be an assistant instructor and always help the students who are trailing.
Advanced students may not feel held back to learn at a slower pace than they can achieve when with other advanced students. Parents of advanced students are often pleased that their child is in the advanced group. This may further spur the child to achieve even more.
Education
Students who have lesser abilities than average may feel less pressure when in a homogenous group. They may have felt stigmatized by always being the slowest learner in a heterogenous group. The teacher assigned to such a group may have additional training in assisting students who have special needs or a slower learning pace.
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Disadvantages of Homogenous Groups

There has been a move away from homogenous groups. One reason is the stigmatization of groups of students of lesser learning ability, emotional needs, or physical needs. Some studies showed that reduced expectations for such groups were a self-fulfilling prophecy. Students may be given a curriculum that wasn't challenging and therefore didn't learn as much as they would in a heterogenous group.
There have been concerns that minority and economically disadvantaged students were more likely to end up in a lower-level group.
Students may have varying abilities by subject and therefore being grouped into a classroom that labels them either gifted or special needs ignores that they may be high-performing in some subjects and need more assistance in others.