Grouping Literature Review

My early reading experiences reflect the history that Vogt and Shearer (2011) describe in the first chapter of Reading Specialists and Literacy Coaches in the Real World. The basal reading programs of the 1970s and 1980s included “leveled readers, phonics activities, and a great deal of comprehension skill practice, usually found on the pages of the accompanying workbooks. The programs also included highly structured, detailed teacher’s guides, with different lesson plans for each of the three instructional groups” (Vogt & Shearer, 2011, p.13).

Ability grouping is the concept of placing students into learning groups within the classroom based on their academic ability level (National Education Association, 2015). This happens more frequently at the primary level when students have only one teacher and one classroom (Loveless, 2013). Ability grouping can be used to teach any subject but is most commonly used in English language arts and mathematics (Loveless, 2013). Ability tracking uses the same concept of grouping students by their academic ability level, but tracking happens at the middle and high school levels (Loveless, 2013). Tracking is the practice of testing students’ ability levels, placing them in groups based on these

Early reading success is the foundation of a student’s knowledge and self-esteem. The foundation also provides future opportunities for growth. Students must learn to read proficiently so that they are able to learn more in future grades, post-secondary schools, and the workforce. Beverly Tyner’s Small-Group Reading Instruction: A Differentiated Teaching Model for Beginning and Struggling Readers states “In the United States, which offers few career opportunities for the illiterate, teaching children to read proficiently is the most important single task in education.” (Tyner, 2009). Beverly Tyner created the Small-Group Differentiated Reading Model which incorporates research-based strategies for teaching beginning reading skills and skills

he most fundamental responsibility of schools is teaching students to read. Indeed, the future success of all students hinges upon their ability to become proficient readers. Recent scientific studies have allowed us to understand more than ever before how literacy develops, why some children have difficulty, and what constitutes best instructional practice. Scientists now estimate that fully 95 percent of all children can be taught to read. Yet, in spite of all our knowledge, statistics reveal an alarming prevalence of struggling and poor readers that is not limited to any one segment of society:

In every school across America, effective practices of reading instruction are being discussed. Calkins (2012) suggests that over 85% of students being tested on grade level literacy standards are non-proficient. Research suggests that students, who are unable to read proficiently by third grade, are not predicted to ever learn to read or have successful lives when they reach adulthood (Martinez, 2008). For these reasons, it is important that districts implement literacy models and instructional reforms that have been well researched and shown to be successful. The instructional reform method of Balanced Literacy is being used throughout the country to meet the challenging standards of the Common Core. Teachers will need

Reading instruction has undergone many changes since the first colonists settled in America. Hornbooks and battledores morphed into primers and basal readers. Religion played an important part throughout the first half of the history of reading instruction in America. Books grew into stories that were enjoyable instead of remedial. The alphabet played a significant role, as did pictures, when teaching reading. The debates of whole language and phonics has spanned the centuries, leaving no distinct decision. The researcher examined the trends from the 1600s to the present and identified the type of reading

Lessing, Doris. "Group Minds." Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 7th ed. Eds. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Pearson Longman, 2000. 333-335.

additional groups to work independently, reading at their own specific level. The roles of the teacher

To reflect confidentiality, the names of individuals and locations are pseudonyms. As I begin my classroom observation and case study reflection, the list of PA Early Learning Standards is by no means an exhaustive list, but it gives an indication of the learning that happens behind the walls of Mrs. Jackson’s room. While I can select seven standards that she clearly meets, the list continues to expand for kindergarten, first, third, and fourth grade students. As the Title I Reading Specialist, Mrs. Jackson takes great pride in her role at St. Madeline Catholic School since 2013. Not only does she work with kindergarten through fourth grade students, Mrs. Jackson is a committed instructor for helping English Language Learners, both in the

Doing small group activity also help them to understand what they read. Teacher asks students have a discussion about the story in a small group. When they have an interactive discussion with their peers while sharing information about the

An intervention program that is less time-consuming than a 1:1 approach are small group programs. Small group programs are effective because of the social interaction between the teacher and students (Ross & Begeny, 2011). Fien et al. (2011) quantitative study observed the “effect of small group instruction on the vocabulary and comprehension of first-grade students” (p. 307). Researchers divided 102 first graders into two groups: small group or whole-class reading curriculum. Results suggested that students in the small group outperformed the students in the control group on expository retells (.89 points) and vocabulary knowledge (5.89 points) (Fien et al, 2011). Another small group program that enhances students reading fluency and

Most of the other students in her 2nd grade classroom are able to read classroom text and complete work independently. They also read books for enjoyment on their own. The reading time in her classroom consists of a block during which the teacher works with small groups and the children are expected to work quite independently when they are not working directly with the teacher. The class uses a trade book format and this is utilized across the curriculum. Students are provided with short skills building lessons in large and small groups. Most of the time spent during explicit reading instruction is targeted to helping students develop reading fluency.

Tracking is the grouping of students by perceived academic abilities for instruction. As a pedagogical strategy, tracking was initially introduced into U.S. public schools in the early 1900’s as a way to educate and socialize the broadly changing population of urban, northern cities that swelled from European immigration and poor southern black transplants seeking better opportunities. Societal beliefs of the time regarding distinct division of classes and the requisite assimilation of immigrants into American culture resulted in new educational laws that popularized a system that segregated classrooms into “slow, bright and deficient” (Ansalone, 2010, p. 4) levels of learners. Tracking was viewed and used as a practical strategy in

How widespread is ability grouping? No reliable national surveys of ability grouping in elementary schools have been conducted, but a consistent picture emerges from several local studies. According to the article “Ability-Group Effects: Instructional, Social, or Institutional?,” (Pallas, 1994) ability grouping for reading instruction appears nearly universal, especially in the early grades. Schools seek to create teachable groups of children within classes containing a broad range of skills, from students who independently breeze through children's novels to those who have yet to learn basic letter sounds. Ability grouping in math is less frequent and only in the upper grades, but remains rare at the elementary

After the survey was over, Lucy was walked back to the class where she laid down and began to read a book right away.