This article offers one teacher's thoughts about how the experience of having to teach students who had been labelled and grouped by 'ability' unsettled her practice. Such 'ability' thinking runs counter to her beliefs as a teacher. The article sheds light on ways in which practice can be re-fashioned in the light of principles associated with…

As part of a wider study into the educational attitudes and experiences of white, working-class male pupils in the north of England, this paper explored the ways that male pupils in years 10 and 11 navigated and experienced the six-level (A-F) academic banding system present in their British mainstream secondary school (Ayrefield Community…

Differentiated instruction (DI) is a beneficial approach to addressing students' diverse learning needs, abilities, and interests to ensure that each student has the opportunity to make academic progress. To answer the question of how teachers utilize DI in K-12 classrooms, this systematic review was based on 61 empirical studies on DI published…

Empirical research on advanced literacy skills among students in elementary and middle school, and on literacy instruction related to such skills, was reviewed to map current scientific knowledge on the topic, and to map identification methods and terms used to describe these students. A comprehensive search in three databases was conducted.…

This article reports the findings from a study that explored children's interactions and their perceptions of working in groups in a primary classroom. Group work among children has been researched widely to highlight its efficacy in influencing children's cognitive and social learning in mainstream classrooms. Such research, however, appears to…

In this article, we describe the case of "Keri," a fifth-grade teacher who had completed an Elementary Mathematics Specialist (EMS) certification program. Drawn from a larger study investigating the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of EMSs, Keri's case was unique in that she was teaching mathematics to four classes in a departmentalized…

The division of educational systems into different tracks--academic and vocational--represents one of the key elements in explaining social stratification and inequalities. Previous research identifies teachers' expectations as a critical factor to understand the relationship between tracking and social inequality. This paper discusses how ability…

This article discusses the pedagogic practice of ability grouping in government schools in Delhi. Despite practical evidence against homogenous student settings, ability grouping is implemented as a policy solution to reduce the huge variance in students' learning levels within a classroom. Research data is drawn from interviews with 110…

Many secondary schools sort students into 'ability'-based classes, but research shows that streaming students by ability is inequitable and does not improve student academic results. There has been little qualitative research that considers students' experiences of streaming, with none that compares students' experiences in classes that are…

The importance of children is a universally accepted concept in schools. However, do we actually listen to what children have to say? Rudduck and Fielding [2002. "The transformative potential of student voice: Confronting the power issues." Paper presented at BERA Annual Conference, University of Exeter, p. 2] argue that the voices of…

Introduction: Studies have investigated the beginning of the decline in motivation during the transition of students to secondary school, with a low point in year 9. However, there are only a few studies that have researched the course of learning and achievement motivation separately for high-tracking school students, although--following the…

School district administrators must address structural racism and inequitable access to advanced learning opportunities in their school districts. District administrators in one large district in the northwestern part of the United States sought research-based advice by asking the authors to provide the answer to the "million-dollar"…

Background: South Africa is a country with a reading crisis: 81% of Grade 4 learners are unable to read for meaning in Grade 4. Teaching methods and practices have been identified as a primary cause; there is an over-reliance on choral methods, very little focus on meaning, weak feedback and assessment, and little interaction with books. Aim: This…

With the large number of online courses currently available, learners may have difficulty choosing the appropriate course, so online education institutions have launched a free trial marketing approach. The factors influencing learners' continuous usage of online courses in the mode of course trial have become a prominent and meaningful topic.…

Grouping students in terms of ability and aptitude is assumed to be advantageous, given that high-performing students may be stimulated more while low-performing students may be supported more. However, studies on ability grouping often provide mixed results. Additionally, although ability grouping is a common practice in the Philippines, it has…