Separating students into homogeneous groups is a common instructional practice used by elementary teachers during reading instruction. Although researchers have been studying the effects of homogeneous grouping for many decades, there is little consensus on whether grouping is an effective or equitable instructional practice. The central challenge…

A survey conducted among approximately 1,400 students at 63 primary schools showed that learning gains for initial reading varied significantly for students in the last 6 months of Year 3. Learning gains turned out to be much higher in classes where students had received explicit or direct instruction, where instruction had been organized…