Are Combination Classroom Effective In Teahcing Are Children?
...ability levels, how well do they do in school? In order to answer this question, we must look at the lengthy history of combination classrooms.
Before examining the strengths and weaknesses of a multiage educational program, it is necessary to define it: Combination classes are created when children of different ages and grade levels are intentionally combined in a single classroom to realize academic and social benefits. At the end of each year, the older students move on to the next grade and a new group of students enters at the lower grade. "Combination classrooms are nothing new. They've been around since the days of the one-room schoolhouse, when children of many ages studied side by side under the same roof with the help of one teacher" ( Bozzone 8 ). However, with the enactment of No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, combination classrooms in today's society have taken on a new meaning.
When talking about multiage education, we must understand the history of education in the United States. Graded education did not appear America until 1843, when the concept of separate grades was born of administrative practicality and puritanical traditions ( Anderson 28 ). At that time, the United States was beginning the process of industrialization and the idea of mass production was extended to the educational system. Dividing students into grades enabled teachers to specialize on a specific portion of the curriculum, and paved the way for the advent of the graded textbook. The graded system of education made the delivery of curriculum more efficient than the one-room schoolhouse system.
After 1918, the use combination classrooms in the United States declined. However, in the 1960s the nongraded movement once again gained support in the United States. At this time, many schools combined students in mixed-age groups, but with negative results. The motivation...
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