This study considers how class composition, in terms of between-student variability and the average level of achievement, is related to the academic development of students, and how these relationships can be explained by features of the class learning environment. At the start of secondary education, Flemish schools can decide autonomously how to…

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 main impetus for the SPRinG (social pedagogic research into grouping) project was to address the wide gap between the potential of group work and its limited use in schools. It is an ambitious project that developed key principles and strategies to improve the effectiveness of group work in everyday primary classes and across a whole school…

A random sample of primary-grade teachers from across the United States was surveyed about within-class ability grouping in reading. Sixty-three percent of participants reported using within-class ability groups. Groups are smaller and more flexible than those formed in the past, with teachers emphasizing teaching comprehension, reading…

Reports on results of a longitudinal study of relative reading achievement of 87 boys and 100 girls from 1st through 6th grades. There was a systematic relationship between gender and reading categorization in Grades 1-3, but not Grades 4-6. Implications include a case for early reading intervention and for reconsideration of the view that…

One purpose of this study was to examine computer-assisted instruction (CAI) performance in relation to certain individual difference variables and to help establish a basis for further research on this problem. (Author)

The implementation of reading groups and its effects on pupil mobility, patterns of teacher-child contact, and pupil measures of reading achievement and related factors was examined. Group membership patterns, group influence on later reading performance, and teacher feedback were discussed. (BJG)

Controversy, an aspect of small-group interactions, was investigated in 10 mixed-ability, mixed-sex, elementary math groups through analysis of dissension episodes. Results showed that boys and higher-ability students had significantly more prevailing answers and demonstrations. (Author/LMO)

This study tests a model of classroom structural and interactional variables postulated as influencing students' achievement expectations. Hypotheses concerning structural differences between classrooms were unsupported. Hypotheses concerning positive teacher-student interactions in low- compared with high-differential-treatment classrooms were…

Team Assisted Individualization (TAI), a mathematics program combining individualized instruction, cooperative learning teams, and direct instruction, was compared to control methods in a 24-week experiment in 59 third- through fifth-grade classrooms. Significantly positive effects were found for both disabled and nondisabled students. (Author/BS)

This study investigated the stability over time of: (1) student behavior in small groups; and (2) the relationships among student and group characteristics, group interaction, and achievement. Measurements were taken for two three-week instructional units, three months apart, on 110 students in three average-ability junior high school mathematics…

Attention during reading lessons was explored for 116 second and third graders (60 males and 56 females). Some of the concurrent and antecedent factors that influence attention were investigated. Oral reading errors undermine attention. Nominal reading group membership is more strongly related to attention than individual fluency and comprehension…