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It all started when…

In my thirty-plus years in education, the pendulum seems to swing in educational circles relative to the effectiveness of homogeneous grouping versus heterogeneous grouping.  It has been my belief and practice that you should use heterogeneous grouping as the primary model, while not ignoring the positive outcomes of homogeneous grouping for short periods of time when staffing particular programs or when differentiating instruction.  The key to the process is to only homogeneously group when absolutely necessary. Homogeneous grouping has its place in our schools, but it cannot be used as a primary method as it tracks students throughout the day creating a false environment that can be easily misinterpreted as the norm.  It is important to note that the world is more often than not comprised of heterogeneous groups, meaning the people form a variety of intellectual, social, gender, and religious backgrounds come together. Since schools are supposed to be a microcosm of their community and given one of the major complaints of 21st century employers cite people not being able to work successfully in small, diverse groups, educators should feel compelled to remain mindful of the positive and negative consequences of grouping strategies when preparing students to become a productive member of our global economy.  One should never be able to be identified based solely on how schools or teachers group them. We can evaluate your student population and create or help create groups, we can help you decide how and when to group, or we can provide feedback on your current grouping strategies to help you maximize student growth.