Internationally, schools with small numbers of children and constrained funding are not able to group the children in classes based on their age. Rather, the children are combined into larger 'mixed-age' classes. Schools and teachers manage this situation in different ways, for example by teaching the class as two or more separate age-based groups…

The Mexican educational reform is based on transformations towards the conception of a new world, as a result of technological advances and new knowledge communities, where the parameters are established mainly by various international organizations, and where countries implement, evaluate, integrate and describe the necessary conditions for…

The purpose of this study was to describe the impact of a flexible classroom environment, including the teacher and student relationship, and its role in fostering creativity in middle school students. The case study design included gathering data through interviews and observations. It was determined that democratic, workshop-based classrooms are…

A quality teacher education program is rational and streamlined to address specific pedagogical issues. It elucidates the ideas about what constitutes good teaching and the content and scope of course work and practical experiences. Teacher education courses are very much connected to practice as well as theory. High quality teacher training…

Originating from progressive educators who saw the need for student-centered educational designs rather than the traditional, single-age classroom design based on Henry Ford's assembly line, the multiage classroom design is returning as a viable alternative to the single-age classroom. The authors explored the perceptions of parents and teachers…

Ten years ago, Salman Khan, with three degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard, agreed to help tutor his cousin Nadia, who was struggling in math. Using Yahoo's Doodle notepad, Khan offered Nadia a sequence of mini lessons designed to scaffold her learning. Over time, other friends and relatives heard about Khan's success and asked for similar…

This volume contains a collection of selected papers submitted to the 19th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) held in June 2021. The 19th BCES Conference theme is "New Challenges to Education: Lessons from around the World." The book includes 40 papers written by 66 authors from 15…

MUSSI is the name of a she-cat from an imaginary story invented and told by children from two elementary schools through different performing modalities. It is also the name of a pilot project of Applied Ethnomusicology funded by a major Portuguese Company, SONAE Sierra, through the local Loures Shopping Centre, which paid for the musical…

One of the most absurd vestiges of yesteryear in the public schools is the widely accepted practice of moving students to different teachers and grade levels every year, leading to an annual mix of new classmates and instructional methodologies. No respectable body of research or scholarly reflection today gives any credibility to the academic and…

Inspired by Lilian Katz's lectures and books, the staff of Hollywood Elementary School in southern Maryland embraced Katz's philosophy of developmentally appropriate programs, project learning, and multiage grouping. This paper describes Hollywood's journey as a school community to implement these strategies, discussing the multiage organization…

In 1993, the Michigan legislature passed a bill that allowed school districts to adopt early elementary school program initiatives. These initiatives established nongraded, continuous progress programs for grades 1 through 4. An overview of how the state coordinator helped school districts implement this multiage, nongraded model is presented in…

Considers the relationship between elementary and secondary education. Asserts that mixed-aged groups with a difference of 3 years promote cooperation and mutual support. Discusses scouting and sports as a means of fulfilling the void of purely academic schooling, asserting that organizations of this type provide youth with opportunities to…

Kentucky's ungraded Primary School Program is defined by seven critical attributes: developmentally appropriate educational practices, multiage/multiability classrooms, continuous progress, authentic assessments, qualitative reporting methods, professional teamwork, and positive parent involvement. This article explains these attributes,…

This article describes a multiage classroom led by three co-teachers who facilitate the education of 42 students ages six through nine years. The classroom is located in a public school district that practices inclusion and subscribes to the principles of whole schooling. A literature review defines the concepts of co-teaching, multiage education,…

Advantages of multiage classrooms include improvements in student self-concept, attitudes toward school, leadership, and social skills; reduced discipline problems; and individualized instruction. Implementation problems include entrenched teacher attitudes, including overdependence on textbooks, and the extra teacher training and planning time…