After several weeks, Mrs. Richards finds that the diverse range
of math abilities among her students is posing an extra challenge for
her. She decides to group the students based on their ability levels.
Mrs. R. does not inform the students about the basis for their groupings.
Over several weeks, she observes that students in the lower ability
groups have not received the same opportunities to learn as other students
and are beginning to "act out," while the students in the
high ability group are becoming non-cooperative and unwilling to work
with others. Mrs. R. also overhears students making comments such as
"I'm in the dumb group 'cause I'm not good with numbers."
She also hears students in other groups making comments such as "we're
the smart ones, why do we have to do this?"
In addition, Mrs. R. notices that her groups reflect the socio-economic
differences among the students' families and that students from working
class backgrounds are receiving fewer opportunities to develop critical
thinking skills. Determined to resolve the problem, Mrs. R. begins conducting
research and discussing with her colleagues the advantages of heterogeneous
grouping, which she introduces the following semester with much more
positive results.
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