| Abstract: | Grouping students by academic achievement level has been practised in a wide variety of forms and contexts for over a century.
Despite a general consensus in the research that between-class achievement grouping provides no overall benefit for students,
the practice has persisted in various guises. Between-class achievement grouping is common in high schools, and is also practised
in a number of primary schools in various countries. While the affective outcomes of such practices have been investigated
recently, academic outcomes at primary level have not been studied in recent decades. This paper examines the academic outcomes
of between-class achievement grouping in literacy and numeracy classes in Australian primary schools. Results from standardised
tests are compared between two groups of schools—one regroups students for these areas, and one maintains mixed-achievement
classes. It is argued that the current regrouping practice closely resembles streaming and provides no apparent academic advantage
for students. |
