Multi-Age Classrooms

Great Expectations classrooms are multi-age. Students with differing ability levels and ages are taught in the same classroom without dividing them or the curriculum into "grade" designations. Students learn better when they have role models they can turn to for asistance, and when they practice their skills by demonostrating to others.

Multi-age education is the practice of teaching children of different ages together in the same classroom without dividing the students or curriculum into steps labeled by grade designations. Students progress along a continuum of simple to more complex material at their own pace. They make continuous progress, rather than being promoted to the next grade at the end of the school year. Students stay will the same teacher for 2-3 years and generally two-thirds of the students remain the together from year to year, with only the oldest students advancing to the next group.

Multi-age education is not the practice of split grade or combination grade classes. These terms typically refer to different grades together in the same classroom, but with grade level distinctions maintained and separate curricula used for each grade. Split grade classes respond to imbalances in the pupil-teacher ratios, age-group placements, enrollment fluctuations and budget constraints. Split grade classes are an administrative necessity rather than a philosophical preference.

Research for Multi-Age Groups

One area of the foundation of Great Expectations school is Multi-Age Families, which is inherently connected to our tenets of Personalized Learning Plans (PLP) and Flexible-Paced Learning. How did we decide to include Multi-Age Families? We used the same process for our entire plan ... take a concept, research it, draft it for discussion by the Design Team, accept or reject the concept, and if accepted, continue reasearch and modifications of the concept.

Teaching to multiage grouping has always been a part of early education and post secondary, and in fact is how education occurred prior to industrial revolutions. We propose developmentally appropriate ability-grouping that may generally consist of students from k-2, 3-5, 6-8. We will have ongoing evaluation of the child's placement via the PLP and conferences.

Research Used: "Montessori Minnesota Charter Schools:
Improving Multigrade Classroom Instruction in Small, Rural Schools"

Dr. Maria Montessori, Italy's first woman physician, developed educational materials and methods based on her belief that children learn best by doing, not by passively accepting other people's ideas and pre-existing knowledge. It was an innovative concept. This idea of learning promotes the active personal pursuit of many different experiences: physical, social, emotional, cognitive.

Montessori believed learning should occur in multi-age classrooms where children at various stages of development learn from and with each other. Her developmentally-appropriate approach was designed to fit each child instead of making each child fit the program.

Minnesota Charter Schools Using Multi-age Groupings

*The schools marked with an asterisk were of particular interest and we studied their programing and spoke with their staff. Especially helpful was the following information provided by Cross Lake.

What is Multi-Age Grouping?

Multi-age refers to the physical grouping of students as well as a philosophy about the best way to achieve outcomes for them. Students are grouped so that the age span of the class is greater than one year. Programs are planned which are developmentally appropriate for each student regardless of their age or grade level. The multi-age philosophy recognizes that students learn better when they have role models they can turn to for assistance, and when they are able to practice their skills by demonstrating to others. This cannot happen in a single grade class. The multi-age class is based on a more family-oriented structure where difference is accepted, and nurturing is valued and encouraged.

How are students taught in a multi-age class?

In a multi-age class, students are taught in groupings that maximize the potential of their learning. Teachers take advantage of the range of experiences, knowledge and skills of the group to develop programs where the outcomes for students are open-ended. This means that students learn from the teacher and each other, and the teacher plans for, and expects different outcomes for each child dependent upon these stages of development.

Won't my child get bored learning the alphabet two years in a row?

Basic skills, such as learning letter names and sounds, and learning to count are taught in groups of students according to their needs. This gives all students a chance to work at their level.

Will my older child be expected to "teach" the younger children?

As in any class, the responsibility for the teaching rests with the teacher. In a multi-age class, older students naturally want to help younger students and frequently do so. Research has shown that when students teach information and skills to their classmates, their academic performance improves. They reinforce their own knowledge and skills, which in turns builds their self-confidence and self-esteem and they come to a better understanding of the subject matters.

Won't my younger child be overwhelmed by the older, more competent children?

Older students often spontaneously comfort and nurture the younger students. Most students are sensitive to the needs of those that are younger and want to help them fit in. They show them where everything is, help them to read and write, play with them and look after them on the playground, and enable them to accomplish tasks far more complex than if they were in a single grade class. In a multi-age class, younger and less able students have their needs met much more quickly and more often.

Won't my young child pick up bad behavior from the older children?

Because the older children fulfill a nurturing role, there are less behavior problems in the multi-age classrooms. The older students tend to self-regulate their behavior in order to provide good examples. Also, the fact that all the older student's practice being leaders in the class helps to alleviate the pressure between older students competing for the role of "boss" in the classroom. The aggressive and domineering behavior that often leads to friction between children is not a problem.

How do teachers manage to teach all the different age levels?

Teachers in a multi-age class are very aware of each student as an individual. They focus on what each student knows, and needs to know, rather than on the body of information that has to be transmitted to the class. Because students remain with their teachers for more than one year, teachers get to know each child very well.

Teachers use strategies such as personal learning plans, team teaching, grouping for skill learning, cooperative learning groups, interest groups, peer tutoring, and one to one instruction.

What about my gifted child?

Students in multi-age classes learn to take responsibility for their learning from the beginning. They are encouraged to set goals and challenges for themselves and the teachers facilitate whatever it is they need to achieve them. Students are often allowed to move to another class for certain subjects if they need more challenges.

How is my special needs student be provided for?

Charter Schools must follow all state guidelines for special needs services. Special needs students will receive the required help, but the labels tend to disappear within the classroom. All students are judged on their personal development level and differences are accepted by the students. Multi-age classes help blend the age and ability differences that are obvious in one-grade classes, and the kids are very accepting of the differences within their classroom, because they expect them.

Charter schools often work to reduce their special education rolls not by excluding such students, but by working intensively with them within the regular classroom setting. They take all students, but resist the every-growing district practice of labeling all difficult or low-achieving children as "special education" just in an effort to get them out of the regular classroom or pick up additional special education funds.

Improving Multigrade Classroom Instruction in Small, Rural Schools

What is the idea behind Improving Multigrade Classroom Instruction in Small, Rural Schools?

This program was created for teachers and administrators in rural areas who have an identified interest in or need for multigraded classroom instruction. It is a series of workshops designed around the resource handbook The Multigrade Classroom: A Resource Handbook for Small, Rural Schools developed by Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL). Each workshop can be tailored to a given site and relies heavily upon activities that model actual classroom practices of multigrade teachers. The following workshop topics are available:

The material and training are designed for multigrade and multi-age classrooms from any combination of 2 to 13 grades within a single classroom setting.

What does research say about how this idea can help teaching and learning?

More than 105 separate research articles and reports were used in the development of The Multigrade Handbook. The first chapter of the handbook reviews research that was specifically focused on multigrade organization and instruction and has been published in Research Education (Fall 1990 and Winter 1991). Subsequently, chapter 1 was published in The Journal of Research in Rural Education. The remaining chapters of the handbook drawheavily on research on effective instruction and learning cognition. Each chapter has a reference and resource section for those desiring additional information.

Research evidence indicates that multigrade instruction has a significant positive impact on student attitudes and tends to enhance achievement outcomes under positive implementation conditions.

How was program tested?

Improving Multigrade Classroom Instruction in Small, Rural Schools was tested in 16 different settings, under varying goals and circumstances. Participants in the workshops included individuals from throughout the United States, as well as educators from other countries. The focus of each workshop was a little different, because the diversity of participants and the specificity of their classroom needs varied.

Where implementation was carefully planned, multigrade organization has been successful. A national network of multigrade educators has been formed.

What communities and states are using this program?

This program has been or is currently being used in virtually every state in the union and in Guam, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Indonesia, Canada, and Jamaica. Many different education stakeholders, including teachers, principals, board members, state department of education personnel, and university faculty have taken part in the workshops.