Multi-Age Classrooms

We have recently decided to mix things up a bit on our teaching and learning team and have grouped our seventh graders and eighth graders together in two separate classes for social studies and science. We kind of took a "dive in head first" approach to this grouping and mixed them basically arbitrarily. Yesterday was the first day we tried out this grouping and we (my team teacher and I) both agree that it went fairly well. We will continue to use this grouping structure as well as look at different ways to group our 40 students throughout the year.

I have looked at a bit of research done on the topic of multi-age classes at the middle level. Maranacook Middle School in Readfield, Maine has different teaching teams grades six through eight. Each team has a different make-up of these students. The parents do have the option of having their student on a multi-age team or not because Maranacook has both types of teams. In researching the effects that a multi-age middle school classroom might have on its students, I had trouble finding a definitive "good" or "bad". A lot of the research I found stated that there was no negative academic effect seen or known in these classrooms, but that no direct positive effect could be determined either. I did find, however, a research article from the NMSA entitled "Is Multi-Age Grouping Beneficial to Middle School Students?" that stated that there were some positives associated with multi-age grouping at the middle level even if they are not of academic persuasion. "It enhances students' self-esteem, decreases behavioral referrals, reduces the effects of labeling, encourages the formation of close communities, and leads to social and academic continuity." It seems to me that these types of positives in a middle school classroom could very easily lead toward higher academic achievement as well.

On a side note I did notice that throughout this research article from the NMSA, the writer continued to mention looping and the positive effects that this type of organization has had in middle schools. As a teacher who has gone through a couple of looping cycles, I have to agree. Students at this age need consistency even from grade to grade. They need someone they know they can trust and relate to and gaining this trust and understanding can sometimes take a very long time.