Mixed ability teaching

Teaching groups

Should learners be in mixed ability classes or should they be grouped by ability?

Subjects | Creating a subject curriculum | Inclusion | Mixed ability

This is a significant issue and will become more so as entry to secondary school expands. It is widely discussed elsewhere and this page contains some links to research done on it, mainly in England. Much of what is on this pagereferes to mathematics because it is generally recognised that this is the subject that is perhaps the most difficut to teach inmixed ability groups The research produces arguments either way but there seems to be a universal recognition that mixed ability groups are difficult to teach in mathematics, that most teachers do not like them, and also that the most able mathematicians do best in a high ability group.
Teachers prefer ability grouping over mixed ability classes	The great majority of mathematics teachers in England (82%) prefer teaching ability secondary groups. They feel that mathematics is unsuitable for mixed ability taeching at this level. The general view is that mixed ability teaching poses a problem in a subject like maths that requires correct answers and a grasp of abstract concepts, and where all pupils have to learn the same things before they can move on. It is much easier to address these issues if all the class is working at roughly the same pace There has been a lot of research onthis issue in England yielding somewhat conflicting evidence. It has become and issue there because government has recently adopted a policy which aims to have ability groupings as the norm in key subjects such as mathematics. One issue is clear from all the research. Mixed ability teaching in mathematics is difficult. We must ask how many Namibian teachers are up to the challenge and what should we do when they are not ?	A popular overview of research in England can be seen here and here in BBC reports. They refer mainly to the work below. Sone recent research at the University of Sussex is reported here. The main researcher is Professor Jo Boalar who has helpfully put copies of her work online here Professor Sue Hallam of the London Institute of Education has published a number of papers on the issue of ability groups. Key publications are not online but are: Secondary school pupils’ preferences for different types of structured grouping practices Hallam, S. & Ireson, J. British Educational Research Journal, 32(4), 583-601 (2006) Pupils’ liking for school: ability grouping, self-concept and perception of teaching Hallam, S. & Ireson, J. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 75, 297-311 (2005) Primary School Pupils’ Experience of Different Types of Grouping in Schools Hallam, S., Ireson, J. & Davies, J. British Educational Research Journal, 30(4), 515-534 (2004) Ability Groupings in the primary school: issues arising from practice Davies, J, Hallam, S, Ireson, J Research Papers in Education, 18(1), 1-16 (2003) Some Australian research is reported here. This is the report of a maths Project and the issue of grouping is only one of many issues discussed. Of interest is the value of setting agreed achievable goals for learners, partcularly if they are working much oftheir time in groups in mixed ability classes when they have to be self-motivated.
What do learners prefer?	Evidence suggests that the most able mathematicians do best in ability groups but the less able do better in mixed ability groups. This is not a surprising result ; the most able learners dont like being held back. On teh other hand, les able learners dont like the stigma andthe low status of being put in lower groups. Learners (and parents) see lower sets as leading to unemployment and higher sets to good exam grades and jobs.
	A major issue is the tendency of teachers to restrict lower sets to "tedious, routine tasks". This can clearly be avoided.
Changing sets during the year	There is evidence that this a good motivator. It implies that the ability groups should be following roughly the same programme during the year but at different levels. It also implies that tehre must be some measure of differentiated work within setted classes as well as between them.
Addressing specific mathematical difficulties	Many students have specific difficulties in mathematics. Many of these have arisen because of inadequacies in the teaching at lower levels. If these are not addressed the learners will make little progress and its is usually not possible to address these in the normal maths class. The alternative is additional help in the afternoon at a maths clinic or a special programme for the learners by withdrawing them from class, until they have reached a level that allows them to return to it. A third possibility is a special parallel set.
Ordinary and advanced mathematics programmes	We already have some setting by ability inschools that take the addiional or higher progarmems at grade 10 and 12. There are several problems with these however: They only happen in a few elite schools and hence they are discriminatory They often only involve small numbers of students and hence they are an uneconomic (and often unfair) use of teacher time Once students have opted for these, if they fail to succeed, they run the risk of getting lower grades than they would, had they stayed in the ordinary programmes Clearly, however, these higher strands are important both for the learners and the economy; more good learners should have access to them. These are all problems that can be solved. They must be addressed at the system level, however. They are not really the fault of the school.
'Selling' setting by ability groups	Some schools have already done some segregation by ability in mathematics. When this is directed towards the alternative curricula at grade 10 and12 it has not attracted attention. However, when the segregation has been done to address specific weaknesses this has on aoccasion attracted disapproval from regional offices (and maybe, though I have no evidence) from parents. All this points to the need for need for closely argued reasoning to justify setting by ability. Both the regional office and parents must understand clearly what is happening and why. In particular, the slower groups must not be seen as 'sink' groups.
Timetabling skills	Many, probably most, secondary schools seem to have very limited timetabling skills. Many senior schools still do little more than place children in rooms and then timetable teachers to visit them. This is an issue for the departmental manual group which must provide guidance on the setting up and management of a mathematics department. Some training will be required linked to the manual and this should be planned. Timetabling skills will have to be an element in the training.	This link is to a page from where a timetabling manual can be downloaded. It was completed some years ago and has been used by some schools. Some timetabling software is available in the country at a reasonable price. I have not tried it but the manual suggeststhat it is airly intuitive and it seems to do all that is required here. It is locally available in Oshakati from pengevally(at)yahoo.com