From philosophy and rationale to sample lesson plans and evaluation forms, this complete design for the mixed-age primary classroom provides practical answers to teachers', administrators', and parents' questions about planning, implementation, environment, curriculum, management, assessment, and evaluation. Reproducible forms and assessment tools ease use. Grades K-6. Index. Bibliography. Illustrated. Good Year Books. 277 pages.
As schools struggle to teach all students, the multi-age teaching and learning framework has emerged as one of today’s most effective ways to structure schools. Multi-age Learning Community (MAC) Program is a professional development program in action. It presents a framework that can transform schools from a graded system to a multi-age learning environment. This multi-age school targets students’ individual and personal needs and allows students to excel and succeed. The school reform climate today focuses on schools of choice and building effective school environments. This multi-age program creates a unique school niche that is marketable to families. Parents have the option of sending their children to schools that concentrate on achievement that best meets the needs of the learner without disrupting the mandates of the curricula. This book is intended to assist educators at all levels of all school organizations, as well as give policymakers, educators and parents the information on an effective school program. This book gives information on how to transform schools into multi-age classrooms. This book is divided into four parts that explain both the theory and the practice of effective strategies for the multi-age school program: Organizational Practice, Building Culture, Learning Processes, and Assessment and Systemic Improvement. There are specific basic principles and practices that are integrated into a quality and effective framework discussed in the chapters of this book. Each chapter begins with a vignette based on my experiences in multiage schools and concludes with an educator’s reflection to recap the concepts in the chapter. Each chapter also integrates snapshots that areshort real-to-life passages that bring to life concepts discussed in the chapter. Although this book discusses multi-age schools, these ideas may be applied to all school environments. To accommodate all school programs, at the end of each chapter, a section titled Application for All Schools is a framework that discusses just how to apply chapter concepts in any school or classroom program. It is recommended that the reader review the book one time in sequence and then reread each chapter as needed, to give meaning to the reader’s purpose.
Presenting a compelling case for changing our system of education from a graded, curriculum-centered approach to a multiage, child-centered approach, Understanding Multiage Education is a comprehensive exploration of the philosophy and foundations of multiage education. Veteran educators Stone and Burriss examine the "why" of multiage education, exploring how multiage classrooms' structure, environment, strategies, and assessments unfold and complement the multiage philosophy and pedagogy. Delineating the differences between a standard and a mixed-age approach, each chapter features Inside Insights, short vignettes, case studies, examples of multiage in practice and discussion questions challenging readers to engage with the core concepts and examine how we might define success in a multiage classroom. Designed for graduate-level students of early childhood, elementary, and general education courses, as well as experienced practitioners, this is an essential guide for anyone interested in understanding the rationale, implementation, and benefits of multiage education.
If you are planning to move into multiage or have already made that transition from a conventional classroom, you will welcome the honest, practical advice that makes Exploring the Multiage Classroom a genuine handbook -comprehensive, realistic, and accessible. You will see what teachers find rewarding in multiage teaching and why it works so well for children who can learn from the models provided by the literacy and learning of other children around them. You will discover:Ideas for working with the entire class on a topic while guiding and accepting a variety of responses determined by the ability and developmental level of each child.Ways children can work effectively on an individual level, with partners, in small groups,and as a whole class.Suggestions for adapting all subject areas in your curriculum to a multiage setting.Chapters on integrated themes, oral language, student choice, literacy, math, assessment, moving into a multiage organization, and teaming.Contributions from other multiage teachers that give a picture of different ways of adapting school programs to include two to four grade spans.Appendixes that include a classroom materials list, sample schedules, and room layouts, and bibliographies of professional resources and children's books.Grounded in the relevant philosophy, research, and theory, Exploring the Multiage Classroom is a treasury of ideas derived from Anne Bingham's wide classroom experience. Using the models she provides, you will understand how to create a classroom that celebrates diversity, continuity, and community-all characteristic of multiage education.
Teaching and Learning in the Intermediate Multiage Classroom describes in practical detail a creative and effective teaching practice in multiage elementary classrooms, one that integrates challenging academics with personalized teaching and learning. Written by David Marshak, an educator who has studied multiage classrooms for over 12 years, and Alice Leeds, who has taught in multiage classrooms for over a decade, this book describes methods for teaching in this type of environment that provide a better form of education than the conventional age-graded classroom. Leeds and Marshak examine the benefits of multiage classrooms by exploring how such classrooms function and provide a detailed description of an individual unit designed to maximize the potential of this non-traditional form of intermediate education. By describing the benefits multiage classrooms provide in terms of personal, social, and academic achievement, plus outlining a process for teachers to become successful in this environment, this book is bound to interest administrators, teachers, and researchers in education.
Reinvent public schools with proven, innovative practices Our homes, communities, and the world itself need the natural assets our children bring with them as learners, and which they often lose over time on the assembly line that pervades most of the public education system today. We see no actions as more important in school than developing, supporting, and reinforcing children's sense of agency, the value of their voices, and their potential to influence their own communities. In Timeless Learning, an award-winning team of leaders, Chief Technology Officer Ira Socol, Superintendent Pam Moran, and Lab Schools Principal Chad Ratliff demonstrate how you can implement innovative practices that have shown remarkable success. The authors use progressive design principles to inform pathways to disrupt traditions of education today and show you how to make innovations real that will have a timeless and meaningful impact on students, keeping alive the natural curiosity and passion for learning with which children enter school. Discover the power of project-based and student-designed learning Find out what “maker learning” entails Launch connected and interactive digital learning Benefit from the authors’ “opening up learning” space and time Using examples from their own successful district as well as others around the country, the authors create a deep map of the processes necessary to move from schools in which content-driven, adult-determined teaching has been the traditional norm to new learning spaces and communities in which context-driven, child-determined learning is the progressive norm.
Enrichment clusters engage students and facilitators in student-driven, real-world learning experiences. Grouped by interest, students working like practicing professionals apply advanced content and methods to develop products and services for authentic audiences. Clusters are scheduled during the school day over an extended period of time and involve all students. This updated second edition of Enrichment Clusters provides the rationale for including this important enrichment program for all students, suggestions for creating buy-in, and a step-by-step guide for successful implementation of a self-sustaining enrichment cluster program within the context of specific schools. Included are staff development activities, suggestions for evaluation and program improvement, guidelines for developing high quality cluster experiences for teachers and students, suggested resources, and everything one needs to develop, implement, and sustain a top-quality enrichment cluster program.
Since its first publication in 1959, The Nongraded Elementary School has become a classic in school reform literature. This reissue includes a retrospective introduction on what happened to nongraded alternatives in the aftermath of “Sputnik” educational reforms, what is occurring amid the current resurgence of school reform, and what the prospects are for the future. The value of this book lies in its still contemporary theoretical underpinnings for the nongraded school. The book’s treatment of the issue of promotion versus non-promotion is of particular interest in the current debate on school reform.
