Thousands of UK primary schools are locking their pupils into a cycle of disadvantage by separating them into ability groups, a major international study has warned.
theguardian.com/education
Common practice in NZ too!
Thanks to some timely Maths PD this year, I have been doing more work across the curriculum in mixed ability groups (not just maths).
The idea behind this is that if students are ability grouped their exposure to a range efficient strategies, wider vocal, models of effective learning are limited and therefore their outcomes are limited.
In reading we mix practising our own strategies and utilising whanau support to decode words in groups that include a diverse range of skills - often we open instructional groups to all reading level learners (and increasingly we are seeing that lower level readers join these groups and even are motivated to do the independent activities as well!)
In maths we spin a partner wheel for pair sharing and spend a lot of time explaining and listening to our partners in small teaching groups to increase exposure to successful (and even just different) strategies. Students are encouraged to try out these other strategies and reflect on their effectiveness.
Peers are a valuable tool for learning and this whole strategy has an endless array of bonus outcomes for example - increased student talk (explanation, justification, empathy),
Teachers should not be the source of all info nor should they do the majority of the talking.
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