Differentiation and Grouping Practices as a Response to Heterogeneity – Teachers’ Implementation of Inclusive Teaching Approaches in Regular, Inclusive and Special Classrooms

Addressing students’ individual needs is a crucial component of inclusive teaching. However, empirical evidence comparing practices such as differentiation and grouping strategies within inclusive, regular and special classes is still lacking. The present study contrasts these settings using data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). Data from 1034 teachers (755 regular, 89 inclusive, 190 special teachers) teaching the subject German in secondary school (grade 5 to grade 8) were used. Results show the highest use of differentiation in special school classes. Teachers’ use the majority of grouping practices to a similar extent when comparing the three educational settings. Class size and the number of students with migration background were predictors for teachers’ use of differentiation, whereas patterns of grouping strategies were predicted by students’ gender and teachers’ experience.

Educational Accountability, Value-Added Modeling, and the Origin of the Achievement Gap

Empirical results are consistent with the hypothesis that socioeconomic factors contribute to initial disparities in performance that are perpetuated by demoralizing grading, testing, and grouping practices throughout the K-12 years. The hypothesis may explain why the achievement gap increases after children enter the school system, why Black students lose ground within schools and within classrooms, why value-added modeling (VAM) estimates of teacher performance are unstable from year to year, why Rothstein found that VAM estimates of teacher performance predict prior student performance, why VAM estimates of teacher performance predict gains in student achievement, and why persistent sorting may account for the Gates Foundation’s Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) results despite random assignment of class rosters to teachers.

Investigating Swedish Preschool Teachers’ Intentions Involved in Grouping Practices

This study aims to explore profiles of preschool teachers’ intentions when they divide the children into subgroups. Interactionist perspectives, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, and a pedagogical perspective on preschool quality provide the foundation for the study’s theoretical framework. By applying a person-centered analytical procedure, the study analyzes preschool teachers’ considerations of a set of intentional indicators involved in grouping practices related to conditions for supportive classroom environment, opportunities for children’s play and interactions, and preschool teachers’ direct involvement in children’s learning. The sample consists of 698 preschool teachers from preschools in 46 municipalities in Sweden. Two intentional profiles were identified: a relational profile and an organizational profile. The patterns of play and learning opportunities, increasing communication and interaction, and opportunities for children to share their experiences and interests were the most distinctive patterns across the two profiles. Preschool teachers’ consideration of grouping practices as appropriate for working with a specific learning goal was equally emphasized in both profiles. These findings provide insight into preschool teachers’ pedagogical approaches and yield implications for the design of continuing professional development models for preschool teachers.

Spirituality and Education in the United States

Spirituality and education have historically been tightly intertwined concepts. Spirituality is the timeless pursuit by humanity for certainty, understanding, and an abiding connection to each other and the cosmos. Education represents humanity’s efforts at grouping practices, insights, and often contested knowledges in such a manner that they are passed across generations, groups, and communities. The combination of the two reflects humanity’s pursuit at making sense out of the environment.

Validating an Online Assessment of Developmental Spelling in Grades Five Through Eight

Assessments of developmental spelling, also called spelling inventories, are commonly used to understand students’ orthographic knowledge (i.e., knowledge of how written words work) and to determine their stages of spelling and reading development. The information generated by these assessments is used to inform teachers’ grouping practices and instructional priorities. While relatively easy to administer, developmental spelling assessments can be time-consuming to score and are susceptible to human error in both the scoring and the interpretation of results. The purpose of this study is to develop and validate an online version of a commonly used spelling inventory, making the assessment more efficient and accessible and the results more reliable for teachers and scholars alike. Implications for practice and directions for further research are discussed.