States that learning can shut down very quickly when learners are held back or pushed by grade-level constraints. Argues that multiage classrooms support each learner's continuous progress based on each child's experience, background, learning needs or strengths, and interests. (SR)

Advantages of multiage classrooms include improvements in student self-concept, attitudes toward school, leadership, and social skills; reduced discipline problems; and individualized instruction. Implementation problems include entrenched teacher attitudes, including overdependence on textbooks, and the extra teacher training and planning time…

A former student at a one-room school in rural Monongalia County, West Virginia, in the 1920s describes educational practices, social life, discipline, extracurricular activities, subject matter, teacher responsibilities, and the importance of the school to the community. (TD)

The culminating meeting to adopt multi-age grouping in the school district began on a positive note. After months of research, focus groups and communication with the stakeholders, were perched on the verge of making significant instructional and curricular changes to address academic and budgetary needs in the middle-income community where the…

In this article, the author discusses multiage education. Multiage education hailed as recently as 10 years ago as a promising way to restructure schools and boost student achievement but now has fallen on hard times. Interest in the issue has waned, with new research on the topic virtually nonexistent and attendance at national multiage…

The purposes of the study reported here were to investigate the social competence of students aged from six to 12, diagnosed with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD) in a public self-contained school setting, and to increase the students' social competence by using a literature-based method that employs multi-age grouping, impersonation, and…

Although bound by tradition and physical location to elementary schooling, the primary grades are also considered the capstone experience of early childhood education. Primary grade teachers are required to bridge these two disparate worlds, constantly mediating, negotiating, translating, and compromising. This paper describes the experience of…

A survey was conducted of adults' participation in Scottish schools in order to update the statistical picture and investigate the schools' views of the advantages and disadvantages of making provisions for adults. Data were gathered from a random sample of 80 schools (20 percent of secondary schools) throughout Scotland with 20 or more adults…

Serving as a vehicle for raising the profile of and thereby gaining recognition for the important research and development work being conducted in Canada in support of children and families, the "Research Connections Canada" series compiles research and/or development papers as well as background papers, analytical literature reviews,…

This practicum study examined kindergarten teachers' perspectives regarding mixed-age groupings that included kindergarten students. The study focused on pedagogical reasons for using mixed-age grouping, ingredients necessary for successful implementation of a multiage program that includes kindergartners, and the perceived effects of a multiage…

Analyzes gender-related issues among adults and children in small groups during a discovery activity. Focuses on gender bias in verbal interactions. Findings indicate that the parent volunteers exhibited the most gender bias in their verbal interactions with children while the teachers exhibited no gender bias in the same context. (DDR)

Responds to article "Comparing School Systems to Explain Enduring Birth Date Effects". Addresses article in relation to England and Wales. Refutes argument that selective promotion is a mechanism for the continuation of the birth effect in schools. Agrees that this phenomenon is worthy of further research. (CAJ)

A review of the literature on mixed-age settings reveals benefits in the areas of social and cognitive development. Research on the psychosocial advantages of mixed-age groupings is less consistent. Factors such as group size, age range, time together, and context-specific curriculum activities may have a relationship to the level of success and…

Describes one school's annual celebration of Harriet Tubman, 19th-century African-American heroine of the Underground Railroad. Children ages 4-11 engage in multisensory and cognitive learning activities designed to help them understand the rich traditions of early African Americans and the abolitionist movement to end slavery. Activities…

This history of the one-room school examines reasons for its demise (perceived inferior status, efficiency, modernization) and presents advantages of multiaged grouping in schools. (SK)