Some of the problems and hazards associated with the use of standardized reading test scores in the formation and reformation of ability groups for reading instruction are discussed. (Author)

A review of the literature on best practices, both instructional and curricular, that may lead to increased achievement among gifted students, found that flexible ability grouping, combined with appropriate curricular revision or differentiation, may result in substantial achievement gains both for average and high ability learners. (Contains…

A study observed 32 eighth-grade students, divided according to their educational program placements, working on various tasks in either homogeneous or heterogeneous ability groups. Homogeneously congregated, gifted children exchanged constructive types of knowledge and prosocial feedback significantly more often than other homogeneous groups or…

Comparison of gifted, average ability, and low ability sixth grade students (total n=208), in either homogeneous or heterogeneous instructional settings, found a positive effect for achievement in mathematics for the gifted students in the homogeneous grouping. No significant difference in mathematics achievement based on grouping was found for…

A study examined views of teachers about the impact of honors classes on secondary students in regular classes with gifted students removed and on the gifted students in honors classes. Results show honors classes in basic subjects are positive for honors and regular students and for teachers of both. (MSE)

"The Bell Curve" claims that most human differences and almost all social injustices can be traced to intelligence, and that distribution of intelligence should influence distribution of educational resources to allow students to find their proper and inevitable place in society. Applied to educational policy, this vision of the world…

This article addresses six myths often used to oppose ability grouping of gifted students. These concern distinctions between tracking and ability grouping; ability grouping and elitism; discrimination against racial and minority groups; gifted students' supposed lack of special needs; the effectiveness of cooperative learning for all students;…

This article examines the 11-year Soviet experiment with boys' schools as a way to cast new light on scholarly research and public debates about single-sex education. Drawing on archival and published materials by educators who described school conditions, identified problems, suggested reforms, and evaluated remedies, the author argues that…

A narrative study was conducted to investigate how seven female Chinese international students negotiate their identities. Data were collected mainly via taped individual interviews. This study found that most of the participants experienced what they perceived to be constraints on their identities imposed by the American ideology of cultural…

This study investigated the relative benefits to the student of working in homogeneous versus heterogeneous classroom groups. Correlation analysis of 18 desirable outcomes versus 8 personality-based heterogeneity variables reveals that heterogeneity associates with advantages as well as disadvantages. Ways in which group composition might be…

This article uses data collected from a class of eight to nine year olds to show the specific ways children are defining their gendered positions within the context of their same sex friendship groups. Children's subjectivities are described as both actively formed and also positioned within the surrounding (gendered) discourses. This article will…

This fact sheet on cluster grouping of gifted students explains what cluster groups are, contrasts cluster grouping with tracking, offers a rationale for cluster grouping, outlines the special learning needs of gifted students, lists specific skills needed by cluster teachers, points out that cluster grouping should supplement rather than replace…

A STUDY WAS MADE TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF HETEROGENEOUS AND HOMOGENEOUS GROUPING IN NINTH-GRADE ENGLISH CLASSES. ON THE BASES OF IQ AND READING LANGUAGE SKILLS, STUDENTS WERE GROUPED AT THREE ABILITY LEVELS AND PLACE IN HETEROGENEOUS, HOMOGENEOUS SUPERIOR, HOMOGENEOUS SLOW, AND HOMOGENEOUS AVERAGE CLASSES. TEACHER VARIABLES WERE REDUCED BY…

THE EXTENSION AGENT CONDUCTING THE FARM AND HOME MANAGEMENT PROGRAM FOR FARMERS AND THEIR WIVES IN A NEW YORK COUNTY BEGAN USING SMALL EXPERIMENTAL STUDY GROUPS IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THE PROGRAM. USE OF SOCIOMETRIC TECHNIQUES FOR FORMING THESE GROUPS RESULTED IN REDISTRIBUTION OF THE 15 MEMBERS OF TWO ORIGINAL GROUPS TO FIVE DIFFERENT GROUPS AND…