Flex grouping theory has been on the table from the very beginning of our conversations for learning improvement. We already agree that the classes within each grade level are not balanced by performance level and seem to be a random choice with some preference to parent requests, student/teacher personality match, etc. Using even the simplest benchmark (EOG percentile average), it's easy to analyze which classes have more difficulty with grade level material from the start--before any lessons become a variable.
And, we can also agree that our at-risk population is given more support and pro-action than the AIG end of the spectrum. Why?
What ideas can you offer in support for or against Flex Grouping?
Here are some thoughts from the PLC blog site:
"Therefore, we advised this principal to create heterogeneous groupings for homeroom placement and for most of the students’ day. We also recommended that teachers in the school work in collaborative teams to gather information from frequent common, formative assessments to determine which students need more time and more support to acquire the intended essential skills & concepts and which students are ready for a deeper application of those skills/concepts. Students could then be assigned to flexible, fluid, homogenous groups for intervention and enrichment - student-by-student, skill-by-skill - for a brief, designated portion of each day. Each member of the team, as well as other human resources the school might employ, could then be responsible for providing extra time and support for intervention and enrichment during that designated period each day."
Read more . . . .
Links for further study:
Flexible Grouping (Houghton-Mifflin)
Please comment!
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1 comments:
I think we need to approach our grouping with an eye that it is going to be continuously changing. I'm sure we all had that in mind, however, if that be the case, we also need to think about the type of assignments, grading, and assessments that we give our groups. They must be interchangeable. It should be easy for a student to move into another group. It will be up to us to make that transition pain free!
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