In last Sunday's Parade Magazine I read an article entitled The End of Grade Levels? and found it quite intriguing. The theory is based on the fact that children learn in different ways and at various rates. What takes one student one hour to learn may take another student a full day to grasp.
The practice of placing students in grades according to their age is being changed. Some schools are beginning to place students in classes according to their ability.
This has already been implemented in the Chugach school district in Alaska. In just five years, that district's achievement scores have gone from being the lowest in the state to among the highest. Schools nationwide are beginning to give this new approach a try.
I can definitely see how this approach would benefit my ADHD/LD son. This is the teaching model one school we previously considered for our son used. Although we decided against placing our son in that school, it had nothing to do with their lack of grade levels.
I think my son would excel in an environment that accommodated his learning disabilities. If he were surrounded by other students, regardless of their age, who were having difficulties as well, he would be more comfortable and relaxed. He wouldn't feel like the "dumb one" when he didn't understand a concept that the rest of the class mastered easily. Everyones learning curve would be relatively the same, reducing his anxiety.
I would love to see every school district in the U.S. give parents and students the option... attend a school with grade levels or without. I know that will never happen, but I can dream.
What are your thoughts on this subject? Do you think your child would benefit from this type of classroom environment? Do you see any negatives?
By the way, Parade Magazine has created a poll to see how m any of their readers agree and disagree with the idea of not having grade levels in schools. So far their readers are in favor of it.... 79% for and 21% against.
7 comments:
I have always learned at my own rate, especially as an adult who exclusively uses interactive education like computer based modules.
Being herded upward in the sausage grinder imperils the education of those who require more time to assimilate certain curriculum. I wholeheartedly concur with classes divided by ability, with little or no attention paid to age.
There is the difficulty of how this may affect children socially, however. In some Australian primary schools we trialed what we call "stage-based placements" (pretty much the same thing being talked about in your article) but there were concerns about children being socially isolated due to being in a classroom full of younger peers.
What my be better is the differentiation or multi-level teaching in one classroom. A little more challenging, but possibly less likely to impact the child socially. However, I can't quote any research on this... just the body of research that discusses the positive effects for both students with disabilities and students without when the former are included in general education settings.
Perhaps only the child/parent can really know what works best for them so, yes, having a choice would be good.
When I was in school we had what I guess is a combination of the 2....we were in grades according to age but within the grades we have level classes.....A level being the "smarter" kids, B level being the average kids and C level being the kids who stuggled to grasp some of the concepts. Once in junior high and high school we were leveled according to subject....for instance I was in an A level english class but a C level algebra class. I honestly wish my sons school would do leveling becaus it made me feel more normal to be in with kids who were the same as me and not in a mixed group. Personally I think the concept of mainstreaming kids has gone a bit too far and it's not good for the kids self esteems IMO.
My daughter has gifted-LD and vision problems. She got (mis)diagnosed with ADD, but she DID have attentional problems as well (hence the misdiagnosis).
She thrived both at schools where she could be at different levels in different subjects. One school she was at had an elementary children doing math with high schoolers and some high schoolers doing reading with elementary kids. NO STIGMA attached because all the kids were like that.
It makes me happy to see that there are other people who actually care about ADHD. I am a weird one. I'm a teenager who's had it since she was 8, and I'm researching it and learning about it all on my own. I don't think that joking around about something such as mental illness is fair when you can't help it.
I think my daughter would benefit from this greatly. I hate giving her pills, and although she does well in school when she takes them she just isn't my little girl... she acts like some type of robot. Without her meds she is able to learn but at a much slower pace.
I've thought about holding her back for a year.
This is interesting. As a speech language pathologist working in education, I was always taught to look at the individual child. You identify the child's strengths and weaknesses, and recommend what needs to be done next. "Is this student making progress?" is the biggest question, not what grade he fits into.
I applaud Parade and this blog for opening up a dialogue about this.
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