Gifted+and+Disabled+Student+Grouping+Annotated+Bibliography



Victoria Nichio This article shows the different sides of the argument mostly through parents idea of whether tracking is necessary for either advanced or lower track students and what studies have shown is most reliable. It proclaims tracking doesn’t benefit anybody. The goal for tracking is to allow students to move at their own pace for any given subject. Parents with excelled students worry that if they are not surrounded by other advanced students, they will be held back. Other parents question the teaching and are concerned they will be stuck in a lower track. Some cases prove that having mixed student abilities was a success, but in other communities parents blocked reforms and teachers had no clue how to teach mixed groups. Studies show that lower achievers benefit more with mixed groups than higher achievers do. It was confirmed that low track classes happen to be negative, uninspiring environments that hurt the student and the teachers morale. There have been misuses of the system but some believe that eliminating tracking can post a dangerous threat to achievement.

I have to disagree when it says tracking doesn’t benefit anybody. I’ve been in classrooms where its challenging for me to teach because I’m at a loss for how to teach when one kid knows his ABC’s and the other kid doesn’t know the letter A. Lower and higher achievers should benefit from tracking because they are taught material at their understanding level. I agree when the article says lower tracking can cause negativity within the low track classes.

Coeyman, M. (1999, September 21). Schools question the benefits of tracking. //Christian Science// //Monitor //. p. 20. Retrieved from uri curriculum materials library

This article talks about a study that was done that investigated the relationship between the reading outcomes of disabled children and grouping formats used during their reading instructions. The results indicated that alternative grouping formats were a positive outcome compared to the whole class instruction. Ability grouping was criticized by people saying that it lowered self-esteem, decreased the motivation of among students with reading problems, restricted friendship choices, and widened the gap between higher and lower achievers. These alternative grouping formats were developed to help classroom teachers accommodate different students’ needs and avoid negative outcomes associated with ability-based reading groups. Studies found peer tutoring was the most effective, successful technique for these students. It also indicated that students with disabilities perform more effectively in the role of a tutor. Some analysis’s confirm that small group learning is associated with higher academic achievement rather than whole class instruction without grouping.

I believe ability grouping does lower self-esteem because I’ve listened to students who are put in lower classes that make them feel like they are put there because they are “stupid”. Grouping students at a young age where they can’t understand that they were put there because they need more help than others is appropriate, but in high school, classes should be heterogeneous for ability. Other than how it affects a person’s psychological thinking of themselves, ability grouping is great for education. It would help a lot of schools, especially inner city schools, that have so many kids to attend to, have a better education.

Elbaum, B., & Vaughn, S. (1999). Grouping practices and reading outcomes for students with disabilities. //Exceptional Children//, //65//(3), 399-415. Retrieved from uri curriculum materials library

This article promotes grouping for the benefit of gifted students who excel in their education. Many educators doubt that establishing separate educational paths for brighter pupils benefits any student. This would mostly benefit those gifted students instead of meeting the needs for all kids. Failing to help their smartest students would be a waste of valuable resources. Without advanced on enriched programs, gifted students will fall short of their potential or lose interest in school all together. Advocates of gifted education believe that these special programs for these students will benefit all students by introducing new teaching techniques and raise classroom quality. Others argue that these special programs take away valuable resources (teachers, students, money) from the general classroom. These critics also say that labeling students as gifted reduces educational experiences for other students I feel that if you think your child is a gifted student, then the parents should send their child to a program that does not correspond with the school. At school, gifted children should be taught at the normal level. It’s the kids that have a harder time understanding that need help and should be grouped. If schools tracked gifted kids, problems with parents of regular students would emerge.

I feel that if you think your child is a gifted student, then the parents should send their child to a program that does not correspond with the school. At school, gifted children should be taught at the normal level. It’s the kids that have a harder time understanding that need help and should be grouped. If schools tracked gifted kids, problems with parents of regular students would emerge.

Jost, K. (1997, March 28). Educating gifted students. // CQ Researcher // , // 7 // , 265-288. Retrieved <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">from uri curriculum materials library

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In this article, it provides an overview of recent research on grouping practices for students with disabilities. Many students with learning disabilities are receiving general education classes, but the teachers do need to consider grouping practices that meet these student’s needs. Most teachers use homogenous groups when doing reading activities. What researchers found was that the poorest readers received reading instructions that were inferior to that of higher ability counterparts in terms of time. Due to the integration of students with learning disabilities, general education classrooms have become more heterogeneous and teachers need to be prepared with a variety of techniques designed to meet individual needs. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Heterogeneous mixing is becoming a bigger problem every year especially with the population rising and economy going down. Kids already need a better education and tracking can help by giving the student support on its needs. Kids with disabilities need the most help and throwing them in a regular classroom is going to make their head spin. Teachers aren’t prepared for middle teaching, it’d make teaching easier if they can focus on a group, teach the same material, just at a different level.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Heterogeneous mixing is becoming a bigger problem every year especially with the population rising and economy going down. Kids already need a better education and tracking can help by giving the student support on its needs. Kids with disabilities need the most help and throwing them in a regular classroom is going to make their head spin. Teachers aren’t prepared for middle teaching, it’d make teaching easier if they can focus on a group, teach the same material, just at a different level.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Vaughn, S. (2001). Instructional grouping for reading for students with LD. //Intervention In// //<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">School & Clinic //<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, //36//(3), 131. Retrieved from uri curriculum material library

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This article displays data showing how grouping has improved schools educational achievements. In the late 1980s it was common for elementary-school teachers to arrange their classroom according to ability. In the 1990s critics charged that they perpetuated inequality by grouping students in low level groups. This ability has reemerged slowly within schools. What some educators have proposed is that they should expand the number of gifted classes while broadening the criteria for admission in hopes to increase diversity. Some studies show that grouping can damage a student’s self-esteem by consigning them to lower groups. Others suggest that more advanced students don’t make their less advanced peers feel inadequate. Without grouping teachers are forced to teach in the middle, leaving out struggling children and gifted learners. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I believe that education back then was better than what it is now. Today we rely too much on technology and don’t learn those core educational values. If they did student grouping back then, I think it would be a wise choice to bring it back. If tracking has a set of rules that teachers follow, I don’t see the problem with it. It’s the student who have a harder time learning and have disabilities that tracking is going to help the most. How can anyone say no to this technique if heterogeneous mixing of student abilities isn’t showing the best progress?

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I believe that education back then was better than what it is now. Today we rely too much on technology and don’t learn those core educational values. If they did student grouping back then, I think it would be a wise choice to bring it back. If tracking has a set of rules that teachers follow, I don’t see the problem with it. It’s the student who have a harder time learning and have disabilities that tracking is going to help the most. How can anyone say no to this technique if heterogeneous mixing of student abilities isn’t showing the best progress?

<span style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Yee, V. (2013, June 9). Grouping students by ability regains favor in classroom. //The New York Times//, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/education/grouping-students-by-ability-regains-favor-with-educators.html?_r=0