This study attempts to identify the reasons teachers give for using or not using small instructional groups in larger classroom settings and to investigate the relationship of teacher opinions about using small groups to teachers' problems in classroom management. The research was conducted in two phases, with sample sizes of 73 and 51 for phases one and two respectively. Members of the sample were students who had taught full time and were enrolled in two graduate education courses. Three Likert-type attitude measures were used and Pearson product moment correlations were computed for the analysis. The findings suggest that teachers who infrequently or never use small groups view their use as an ineffective learning strategy and believe they limit individualization and promote unfair work distribution among students. In addition, teachers who find their classes difficult to manage are more likely to have negative opinions regarding the use of small groups. The authors recommend that teacher education and inservice programs include specific components that teach how to manage small groups effectively and efficiently and that demonstrate how small groups can successfully promote individualization and increase learning. (MLF)