Grouping by ability - what caused it demise

[goddess40]

I just watching a video in the DU video thread about the dumbing down of America and I was wondering what killed off the learning groups in schools. For those of you old enough to remember I mean the ones with the cute names because adults liked to fool themselves that the kids wouldn't be able to figure out which was the "high" math group and which was the "struggling" math group?

Was it parents that were embarrassed by their lower ability children (like the Bush's and McCain's) so they demanded their child be placed in the high group, there by destroying the advantages of the system. Or that administrators didn't have the guts to explain that this was a way of meeting all children's needs and leaving the George's and John's in the group they could benefit most in?

Or was it the politically correct movement that let adults fool themselves that if they pretend that all children are the same and we teach them that way the kids won't be able to figure out the "smart" ranking of the class.

Or was it some financial reason and it's being blamed on PC standards?

[DebJ]

1. Inclusion: the requirement that a child with difficulties be in the

least restrictive environment (LRE). My husband's school recently moved a huge percentage of Learning support students who were in separate classrooms into regular classrooms with a learning support teacher present. The good news is that these children's behaviors radically improved . . . now, they have good role models. But are these children more ready to learn from grade level (6-7-8) textbooks, while still at a grade 1.5 or 2.0 reading level???

[Beregond2]

2. Actually, it was discovered that all kids learn

better if they are teaching as well as learning, so the students with higher abilities were deliberately integrated with the struggling ones in learning groups. This "we dont move on until everyone gets it" idea is terrific, if you ask me. Everyone is good at something, and it fosters a cooperative rather than a competitive mindset. And speaking for myself, there were many subjects where I just gave up, because I didn't understand something early on, and was too embarrased to admit that before the whole class. I would have done so much better if I could have turned to a classmate who "got it" and said: "Can you help me with this?"

[Realityhack]

5. Dissagree entirely

Slower students learn faster without the faster students in the class and the faster students should not be held back by slow students.
Many of the studies that support the idea of grouping everyone together are highly flawed.
Studies have shown students are actually more likely to ask questions if they are not admiting ignornace in front of faster class mates but rather in front of others who also don't 'get it' yet.

This is especially true when you start looking at 2 or more standard deviations from the norm. Try putting someone with a 145 IQ in with an 80 and see what happens. In general it's not good for either student.

Most high schools don't even pretend to try to group everyone together. There is a reason for that.

[Warpy]

3. The kids always knew

and I'm sure they always told their parents and their parents pitched a snot slinging fit because of course their kid was the best and the brightest, never realizing that the kids in the advanced group got left to their own devices while the slower kids got all the attention.

That's what killed it off, got quick kids tortured by plodding along at a snail's pace while leaving the slowest kids behind and without the attention they needed--stage parents.

[Ms. Toad]

4. It isn't dead

My daughter was placed for reading in the first grade, and for math in the second grade. She just graduated, and that placement determined the group that was eligible to be valedictorian.

She was moved from the top reading group to the middle group during first grade (appropriately), but reading clicked for her later that year and she was ready to move at the pace the top group was moving. By the time I got them to retest her in November of second grade, the top group was a full year ahead of the middle group.

The kids in that group were the only ones eligible for the AP English group in 12th grade. Similarly, the kids placed in the high group in math were the only kids eligible for the AP Calculus class. In our school system, you won't be valedictorian unless you (1) have straight As through high school and (2) take all AP classes offered (which gives you a higher GPA than non-AP classes).