Do grade configurations affect student academic performance? To bring new evidence to this question, I use recent district-by-grade data for nearly the entire United States that contain measures of test score achievement and rates of school switching induced by grade configuration. Past research has found that student performance, is, on average,…

At the local site, many students were not achieving necessary learning gains on state assessments. Administrators and teachers were concerned as to why students on the local level were falling short. Current trends emphasized differentiation of instruction in classrooms to meet individual student needs; however, classrooms generally adhere to a…

This study examined the classroom management and/or training that influenced the implementation of flexible grouping in upper elementary classrooms. The goal of the study was to identify classroom management strategies that would enable upper elementary teachers to effectively implement flexible grouping as a method of differentiated instruction.…

This study reports on the instruction provided in district-designed intensive summer reading programs. The Tier 3 intervention was provided to 374 students from 24 school districts who were not meeting the end of third-grade reading benchmarks; students were exiting third grade and entering fourth grade. Observations of the 40 classes were…

The present article reports the results of a study performed to investigate and examine the characteristics of a teachers' professional development program (Teachers' Professional Development Program for Differentiated Instruction [PDD]) specially designed to support teachers in the design and application of differentiated instruction. Considering…

Background: A guiding principle of Sport Education is that all students get equal opportunity to play, which is expedited through the use of small-sided contests. One element included within the philosophy of Sport Education is that of "graded competition." In graded competition, leagues are arranged that match students of similar skill…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act stresses the importance of educating students with disabilities (SWDs) in the least restrictive environment, often with peers who do not have disabilities. Prior research has examined the extent to which SWDs are included in general education classrooms, but not the characteristics of the peers with…

Students learn to read and write best when their teachers balance literacy instruction. But how do you strike the "right" balance of skills and knowledge, reading and writing, small and whole group instruction, and direct and dialogic instruction, so that all students can learn to their maximum potential? The answer lies in the…

Small-group, text-based discussions are a prominent and effective instructional practice, but the literature on the effects of different group composition methods (i.e., homogeneous vs. heterogeneous ability grouping) has been inconclusive with few direct comparisons of the two grouping methods. A yearlong classroom-based intervention was…

This ethnographic study examined students' opportunities to learn in linguistically diverse mathematics classrooms in a Canadian elementary school. I specifically examined the contextual change of group work, which influenced opportunities to learn for newly arrived English language learners (ELLs). Based on analyses of video-recorded…

This research shares findings from a year-long observational study to determine if there were significant differences in the identified behaviors of teachers and students in fourth and seventh grade classrooms in schools with an achievement gap versus those with no achievement gap. Specific research questions addressed types of instructional…

The aim of the present study was to model student trajectories of behavioral, affective, and cognitive engagement from Grade 3 to Grade 6. The authors also examined whether teachers perceptions could predict student trajectory membership. The authors collected data from a sample of 831 students and 152 teachers. Using multiple-process growth…

Ability grouping in education is a common practice used to differentiate instruction in order to meet the academic needs of students. The primary purpose for grouping students by ability is to increase their academic growth and achievement by providing instruction at the students' current instructional level. However, there is much conflicting…

Grouping similar students together within schools ("streaming") or classrooms ("tracking") based on past literacy skills (reported by parents), family socioeconomic status (SES) or reading attitudes might affect their reading achievement. Our multilevel analysis of the reading tests of 208,057 fourth-grade students across 40…

The use of structured ability grouping is increasing in English primary schools and is regularly seen in primary mathematics classrooms. Ability is a normalised discourse with beliefs that some individuals are "born to do maths" permeating society and infiltrating school practices. In this article, observation and interview data…