Describes rationale and first-week-of-school activities of a project to implement multi-age classrooms composed of kindergarten, first, and second grade students who spend 3 years in that classroom. Notes that the project's goal is to empower children as learners by allowing them to help design the curriculum and set goals for their own learning.…

As teachers and schools are held more accountable for students passing the tests within a designated time frame, the pressure on teachers requires them to work and plan smarter. It takes incredibly talented and dedicated teachers to pull off the multiage program while still meeting all of the state's testing requirements. Educators must continue…

The purpose of this study was to explore the differences between Reading/Language achievement gains of students in multi-age classrooms to the Reading/Language achievement gains of their peers in traditional, single-age classrooms. The causal-comparative quantitative approach to exploring cause-and-effect relationships was employed in this study.…

This article describes a multiage classroom led by three co-teachers who facilitate the education of 42 students ages six through nine years. The classroom is located in a public school district that practices inclusion and subscribes to the principles of whole schooling. A literature review defines the concepts of co-teaching, multiage education,…

A study investigated whether grade-level status affects learning through cross-age activities. Data were collected through unstructured and open-ended audiotaped interviews with 11 pairs of students in a combined third- and fifth-grade class. Coding and analysis of data revealed seven themes related to students' perceptions of their interactions…

In 1993, the Michigan legislature passed a bill that allowed school districts to adopt early elementary school program initiatives. These initiatives established nongraded, continuous progress programs for grades 1 through 4. An overview of how the state coordinator helped school districts implement this multiage, nongraded model is presented in…

A study addressed the question of how young children's spontaneous use of private speech in the kindergarten classroom varies as a function of contextual variables, such as type of activity, immediate presence of others, degree of teacher-given structure, and classroom age composition. Twenty children from two classrooms (one mixed-age, one…

This ERIC Digest summarizes Robert E. Slavin's 1986 comprehensive review of research on the different types of ability grouping in elementary schools. Slavin examines evidence on the achievement effects of five comprehensive ability grouping plans in elementary schools: (1) ability grouped classroom assignment; (2) regrouping within grade level…

Portfolios have gained wide acceptance as a learning and assessment tool. Yet, little research has been reported on the practices of teachers who are actually using portfolios within their classrooms and how those practices are moderated by contextual variables. This research examined the instructional, learning, and assessment roles of student…

A former principal of a nongraded elementary school discusses the nongraded, multiage philosophy, effects of multiage grouping, prevalent misconceptions, and suggestions from practice. Critics often mistakenly characterize multiage classrooms as homogeneous, unstructured, and team-taught; appropriate for kindergarten and primary children only;…

For nongraded primary schools to work, parents and community members must understand how to educate young children. They need opportunities to participate in local schools, and schools must make them feel welcome. Schools should not transition to nongraded programs too quickly, because all of the players need to feel comfortable with the process.…

Describes Project Friends, a mixed-age classroom of kindergartners, first graders, and second graders, including its beginnings, significant features (such as use of integrated thematic curriculum and "clubs"), and outcomes. Asserts that the program has empowered children for learning and encouraged helping relationships among children.…

Investigates the decision-reaching behavior of 120 children aged 7, 9, and 11 years in mixed-age groups. Children of nine years in groups with younger peers exhibited more organization statements, solicitations of preference, group choice suggestions, and reading, and less following, than did nine-year-olds grouped with older peers. (RJC)

Based on interviews with a principal and two teachers at a Virginia elementary school piloting a multiage program for six- to eight-year-olds, this article describes the program's bottom-up development, holistic orientation, and stress on team teaching and continuous progress. Next year's program will offer more options, including a fourth- and…

A British adult education center successfully offered foreign language instruction to children and adults together. Lessons learned from the experience include limiting attendance to 1 child per adult, targeting children aged 9-10, and extending the course to 20-25 weeks. (SK)