"Questions involving the equitable distribution of mathematics instruction have been addressed since at least the early 1990's. Since this time, little research has been conducted on the antecedents and effects of grouping elementary school students within homogenous mathematics groups. The purpose of this quantitative study was to compare the mathematics achievement of 4th grade elementary school students who were grouped in either homogenous or heterogeneous mathematics classes. A causal-comparative design was utilized in an attempt to find relationships between the independent variables of mathematics grouping level, sex, and ethnicity and the dependent variable of mathematics achievement. Data were analyzed using independent-sample t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a multiple linear regression. Grouping was found to have little statistical significance on the mathematical achievement of 4th grade students within this study. The independent variables of sex and ethnicity were significantly associated with the dependent variable of mathematical achievement. There are many opportunities to further study the antecedents and effects of grouping elementary school students within homogenous mathematics groups. Other areas of research are: 1) what factors are used to group students into mathematics ability groups within elementary schools, 2) what factors determines how teachers are assigned to teach different levels of mathematics within elementary schools, and 3) at what grade level does sorting begin in mathematics."--Boise State University ScholarWorks.
The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of ability grouping vs. mixed ability grouping on the mathematics achievement of high, medium, and low ability fourth grade students. Achievement was measured by mean growth on California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) California Standards Tests (eSTs). The sample was composed of 704 fourth grade students from two elementary schools in the same Southern California school district. The research method chosen was a non-experimental quantitative retrospective study. Statistical analysis using a two-way ANOV A and t-tests was performed on three consecutive years oftest scores. Results showed that students of all ability levels experienced significantly higher achievement in homogeneously grouped classes. High ability students in heterogeneously grouped classes showed negative mean growth all three years of the study and medium ability students showed negative mean growth two of three years. Pacing, level of differentiation, and affect may play an important part in the effects of instructional grouping observed in the study. Keywords: ability grouping, homogeneous, heterogeneous, differentiation, pacing, affect, mathematics performance
Although some research-based educational practices have shown promise, many fail to be implemented at a scale that affects more than a small proportion of children. Further, research on interventions for young children includes mixed results, with most documenting "fadeout" of effects after several years, but some showing lasting effects. In this study, the authors evaluated the long-term impacts of a model for scaling up early interventions, in this case a successful early mathematics curriculum, testing to see whether the originally-sustained impacts persisted up to 7 years beyond baseline. The original evaluation of TRIAD (Technology-enhanced, Research-based, Instruction, Assessment, and professional Development) employed a cluster randomized trial (CRT) design to test the effectiveness of the TRIAD scale-up approach, using the Building Blocksʼ early mathematics curriculum (BB) in preschool. In this evaluation, 42 schools were randomly assigned to three groups. One of the groups was a business-as-usual control (CTRL). In preschool, the other two conditions were identical and entailed TRIAD scale-up (intensive training, coaching focused on both BB curriculum and linked assessment and online professional development). After preschool, one of the treatment conditions included follow-through professional development through 1st grade, including knowledge of the intervention and ways to build upon that knowledge using learning trajectories (TRIAD Follow-Through or TRIAD-FT) while the other condition implemented business-as-usual control (TRIAD Non-follow-through or TRIAD-NFT). Students in the two treatment conditions significantly outperformed their peers in the control condition through 1st grade. The primary purpose of the current investigation was to examine the long-term effects of the early mathematics curriculum, but the secondary aim was to explore whether the TRIAD scale-up approach itself, which included aligned professional development for kindergarten and 1st grade teachers, also enhanced the effects of the pre-K curriculum beyond 1st grade. Research questions were as follows: (1) What are the differences in the average math achievement of the three original study groups (TRIAD-NFT, TRIAD-FT, and CTRL) in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade; (2) Do the differences in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade math achievement of the original study groups vary by the socio-economic and racial/ethnic backgrounds of the students in the groups; (3) What are the differences in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade math achievement of the subset of children who remained in the group to which their original school was randomly assigned throughout the intervention period (pre-K through 1st grade); and (4) Do the differences in the in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade math achievement of the subset of children who remained in the group to which their original school was randomly assigned throughout the intervention period (pre-K through 1st grade) vary by the students' socio-economic status and racial/ethnic backgrounds? Figure 1 presents results addressing the first research question that pertain to the differences between the three groups at the end of pre-K through 5th grade. Figures 2a and 2b inform the second research question and show the effects of the FT and NFT conditions separately for African-American, Hispanic, other minority, and white students. Figures 3a and 3b show the FT and NFT effect estimates separately for the low and high SES subgroups formed based on students' eligibility for FRPL. Figures 4, 5a, 5b, 6a, and 6b inform the 3rd and 4th research questions and show parallel results for the stayers (students who stayed in the original conditions between pre-K and 1st grade). Impacts at the end of 5th grade were statistically significant and considerably larger than impacts in 3rd and 4th grade for both conditions and all subgroups. Tables and figures are appended.
Ability Grouping in Education provides an overview of ability grouping in education. The authors consider selective schooling and ability grouping within schools, such as streaming, banding setting and within-class grouping.
Use a practical approach to teaching mathematics that integrates proven literacy strategies for effective instruction. This professional resource will help to maximize the impact of instruction through the use of whole-class instruction, small-group instruction, and Math Workshop. Incorporate ideas for using ongoing assessment to guide your instruction and increase student learning, and use hands-on, problem-solving experiences with small groups to encourage mathematical communication and discussion. Guided Math supports the College and Career Readiness and other state standards.
