Cluster grouping

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Cluster grouping is an educational process in which four to six gifted and talented (GT) or high-achieving students or both are assigned to an otherwise heterogeneous classroom within their grade to be instructed by a teacher who has had specialized training in differentiating for gifted learners. [1] Clustering can be contrasted with other ability-grouping strategies in which high achievers fill their own dedicated class, entirely separate from other students.

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Cluster grouping is not experimental as it has been used successfully since 1974. [2] While no single practice is a panacea for gifted instruction, Schuler's national survey showed a 99% positive approval rating among parents of clustered children and a 90% positive approval rating among the children themselves. Over two-thirds of administrators had a similar positive experience. [3]

Although typically implemented in the upper elementary grades (3-6), cluster grouping has been used in grades K through 12. [4] The methods for selecting children for cluster groups are usually similar to those for other gifted and talented services. [5] Several instructional options are typically used within a cluster, including: enrichment and extensions, higher-order thinking skills, pretesting and differentiation, compacting, an accelerated pace, and more complex content. [6] "Through cluster grouping the intellectual, social, and emotional needs of the gifted students can be addressed." [7]

For clustering to be effective, the teacher must be motivated to work with gifted children and receive specialized training, the curriculum for the cluster must be appropriately differentiated, and the remainder of the class cannot contain difficult or demanding students. [8] Other anecdotal success factors for teachers include: fostering the valuing and acceptance of differences within the classroom, allowing pretesting and credit for previously mastered material, designing independent study that utilizes student passion, remaining flexible in teaching style, and maintaining a sense of humor. [9]

Advantages

There is strong research evidence supporting the tutorial benefits of clustering gifted students during a single classroom. Rogers, Karen B, Ph.D., Re-forming Gifted Education (Great Potential Press, Scottsdale, AZ, 2002), pp. 249. consistent with one survey, advantages include: cost effectiveness, high challenge and expectations of scholars, faster progression through curricula, administrative ease in observation of services, increased understanding of GT students, and an improved opportunity to deal with the psychological needs of the GT students. Schuler also, children with subject-specific giftedness, who might rather be exclude from gifted pull-outs, are often placed within the cluster classroom to require part in advanced work when appropriate. Winebrenner, pp. 177–178. Some research has shown that clustering grouping produces positive academic results for all children within the cluster classroom. [10]

Concerns and criticism

Cluster grouping has experienced some negative reception. Teachers in schools that did not limit the extremes with the cluster classroom have expressed frustration at the required range of instruction. [11] For this reason, Winebrenner recommends that the cluster classroom teacher not also have the neediest students. [12] Some educators may become resentful if not selected as the cluster teacher. For fairness, the responsibility and opportunity of cluster grouping can be cycled in two-year terms through faculty members who are interested and have been trained in its use. [13]

Administrators have at times resented special grouping, expressed frustration regarding scheduling, and have simply been biased against any programming for GT children. [14] Difficulty can arise in placing gifted students who have recently moved into the school district. [15]

Cluster grouping has been accused of denying academic leadership to other classes, but experience has proven otherwise. When gifted students are grouped for instruction, new leadership emerges among the remaining students. [16] Clusters larger than six students have been criticized as unwieldy. In these cases, Winebrenner recommends splitting the group into two separate classrooms. [17]

Parents may apply pressure for their children to be placed within the cluster classroom even if their child does not qualify for the cluster group and there is no research evidence of an inspirational effect. To address this problem, schools can ensure that all staff are trained in differentiation and that all non-GT students are cycled into a cluster classroom at an equal rate over the entirety of their school years. [18]

Comparison to tracking, pull-outs, and mixed-ability groups

A comprehensive study of grouping by Rogers states, "Students who are academically or intellectually gifted and talented should spend the majority of their school day with others of similar abilities and interests." [19] Magnet schools, schools within a school, and classrooms composed entirely of gifted students may not be appropriate in all districts. In these situations, the study goes on to state, "The Cluster Grouping of a small number of students, either intellectually gifted or gifted in a similar academic domain, within an otherwise heterogeneously grouped classroom can be considered when schools cannot support a full-time gifted program (either demographically, economically, or philosophically)."

Cluster grouping is distinct from tracking in that tracking organizes entire classrooms by ability, and little mobility exists between tracks as students progress through school. [20] Conversely, cluster groups tends to expand over time rather than remain fixed. [21]

While cluster groups allow GT children to spend the majority of their day with academic peers as recommended by research, pull-outs (also called "send-out" or "resource" programs) tend to meet one to two hours per week. [22] A 1993 U.S. Government report found up to 72% of school districts using the pull-out approach despite this method being generally unsuccessful. [23] This lack of effectiveness has been echoed in more recent literature as well. [24] Specifically, this is because pull-outs are often a hodgepodge of critical thinking, logic puzzles, and random subjects (e.g., mythology) which are unlikely to result in any significant academic progress because they are not tied directly to the core curriculum. [25] However, properly-implemented pull-out programs can be used to complement cluster grouping. [26]

Finally, mixed-ability grouping does not provide academic benefit to gifted children, and it can result in alienation and isolation of GT students. [27] In mixed ability group projects, gifted children frequently do most of the work or teach the other children, which is not their responsibility and for which they have no certification.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

Intellectual giftedness is an intellectual ability significantly higher than average. It is a characteristic of children, variously defined, that motivates differences in school programming. It is thought to persist as a trait into adult life, with various consequences studied in longitudinal studies of giftedness over the last century. There is no generally agreed definition of giftedness for either children or adults, but most school placement decisions and most longitudinal studies over the course of individual lives have followed people with IQs in the top 2.5 percent of the population—that is, IQs above 130. Definitions of giftedness also vary across cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pedagogy</span> Theory and practice of education

Pedagogy, most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as an academic discipline, is the study of how knowledge and skills are imparted in an educational context, and it considers the interactions that take place during learning. Both the theory and practice of pedagogy vary greatly as they reflect different social, political, and cultural contexts.

Gifted education is a broad group of special practices, procedures, and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented.

When children are young, schools begin to analyze the youngsters’ abilities and sort them into clusters based on their predicted success. The system labels the cream of the crop as gifted. Clark (2002) defines giftedness as “only a label that society gives to those who have actualized their ability to an unusually high degree or give evidence that such achievement is imminent”. The American government defines giftedness as “students, children or youth who give evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop such capabilities”. Gifted students learn in a different manner and at an accelerated rate compared to their peers in the classroom and therefore require gifted programs to develop and apply their talents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ability grouping</span> Practice of grouping students by levels of educational achievement

Ability grouping is the educational practice of grouping students by potential or past achievement for a relevant activity. Ability groups are usually small, informal groups formed within a single classroom. It differs from tracking by being less pervasive, involving much smaller groups, and by being more flexible and informal.

Culturally relevant teaching or responsive teaching is a pedagogy grounded in teachers' practice of cultural competence, or skill at teaching in a cross-cultural or multicultural setting. Teachers using this method encourage each student to relate course content to their cultural context.

In education, Response to Intervention is an approach to academic intervention used to provide early, systematic, and appropriately intensive assistance to children who are at risk for or already underperforming as compared to appropriate grade- or age-level standards. RTI seeks to promote academic success through universal screening, early intervention, frequent progress monitoring, and increasingly intensive research-based instruction or interventions for children who continue to have difficulty. RTI is a multileveled approach for aiding students that is adjusted and modified as needed if they are failing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracking (education)</span> Separation of students by ability

Tracking is separating students by academic ability into groups for all subjects or certain classes and curriculum within a school. It may be referred to as streaming or phasing in some schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Academic acceleration</span> Moving students through education faster than typical

Academic acceleration is moving students through an educational program at a rate faster or at an age younger than is typical. Students who would benefit from acceleration do not necessarily need to be identified as gifted in a particular subject. Acceleration places them ahead of where they would be in the regular school curriculum. It has been described as a "fundamental need" for gifted students as it provides students with level-appropriate material. The practice occurs worldwide. The bulk of educational research on academic acceleration has been within the United States.

Grade skipping is a form of academic acceleration, often used for academically talented students, that enable the student to skip entirely the curriculum of one or more years of school. Grade skipping allows students to learn at an appropriate level for their cognitive abilities, and is normally seen in schools that group students primarily according to their chronological age, rather than by their individual developmental levels. Grade skipping is usually done when a student is sufficiently advanced in all school subjects, so that they can move forward in all subjects or graduate, rather than in only one or two areas. There are alternatives to grade skipping.

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Gifted pull-outs are an educational approach in which gifted students are removed from a heterogeneous (mixed-ability) classroom to spend a portion of their time with academic peers. Pull-outs tend to meet one to two hours per week. The students meet with a teacher to engage in enrichment or extension activities that may or may not be related to the curriculum being taught in the regular classroom. Pull-out teachers in some states are not required to have any formal background in gifted education.

Gifted students are outstanding learners who are not usually considered at risk of academic failure or problems. However, gifted students can still underachieve. There are risks related to the student's giftedness. This concept was formally set forth in 1972 in the U.S. in the Marland Report:

Gifted and talented children are, in fact, deprived and can suffer psychological damage and permanent impairment of their abilities to function well which is equal to or greater than the similar deprivation suffered by any other population with special needs served by the Office of Education.

The Gifted Education Research Resource Institute (GERI) is a multidimensional center dedicated to the study, discovery, and development of human potential. It was founded by John F. Feldhusen in 1977 and is situated in the College of Education, Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. GERI's mission is holistic development of giftedness, creativity, and talent among individuals throughout their lifespan. This is accomplished through enrichment programs for talented youth, graduate programs for future scholars and leaders, professional development and coursework for educators, and ongoing research on the psychology of giftedness, creativity, and talent development. GERI faculty and staff work with P-12 educators in developing and improving services for gifted, creative, and talented children, as well as training school teachers and administrators in gifted education. In addition, GERI has developed several programs for talented youth. The Super Saturday program, a six-week enrichment program, was created in the spring of 1976. In 1977, GERI began Summer Residential Camps, aimed at providing a preview of college life to talented students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Differentiated instruction</span> Framework or philosophy for effective teaching

Differentiated instruction and assessment, also known as differentiated learning or, in education, simply, differentiation, is a framework or philosophy for effective teaching that involves providing all students within their diverse classroom community of learners a range of different avenues for understanding new information in terms of: acquiring content; processing, constructing, or making sense of ideas; and developing teaching materials and assessment measures so that all students within a classroom can learn effectively, regardless of differences in their ability.Differentiated instruction means using different tools, content, and due process in order to successfully reach all individuals. Differentiated instruction, according to Carol Ann Tomlinson, is the process of "ensuring that what a student learns, how he or she learns it, and how the student demonstrates what he or she has learned is a match for that student's readiness level, interests, and preferred mode of learning." According to Boelens et al. (2018), differentiation can be on two different levels: the administration level and the classroom level. The administration level takes the socioeconomic status and gender of students into consideration. At the classroom level, differentiation revolves around content, processing, product, and effects. On the content level, teachers adapt what they are teaching to meet the needs of students. This can mean making content more challenging or simplified for students based on their levels. The process of learning can be differentiated as well. Teachers may choose to teach individually at a time, assign problems to small groups, partners or the whole group depending on the needs of the students. By differentiating product, teachers decide how students will present what they have learned. This may take the form of videos, graphic organizers, photo presentations, writing, and oral presentations. All these take place in a safe classroom environment where students feel respected and valued—effects.

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School organizational models are methods of structuring the curriculum, functions, and facilities for schools, colleges, and universities. The organizing of teaching and learning has been structured since the first educational institutions were established. With greater specialization and expertise in a particular field of knowledge, and a gathering of like-minded individuals, instructors clustered into specialized groups, schools, and eventually departments within larger institutions. This structure spread rapidly during the 19th and 20th centuries with factory model schools and their "assembly-line" method of standardized curriculum and instructional methods. Beginning with the progressive educational movement in the early-mid 20th century, and again with similar trends in the late 20th and early 21st century, alternative models structured towards deeper learning, higher retention, and 21st century skills developed. The organizational models of schools fall into several main categories, including: departmental, integrative, project-based, academy, small learning communities, and school-within-a-school.

Inclusive Classroom is a term used within American pedagogy to describe a classroom in which all students, irrespective of their abilities or skills, are welcomed holistically. It is built on the notion that being in a non-segregated classroom will better prepare special-needs students for later life. In the United States, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 guaranteed civil rights to disabled people, though inclusion of disabled students progressed slowly until the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, after which almost half of US students with disabilities were soon in general classrooms.

Julia Link Roberts is an American scholar of gifted education. In 2004, she was described as one of the fifty-five most influential people in the field. She is the Mahurin Professor of Gifted Studies at Western Kentucky University, and the executive director of The Center for Gifted Studies at Western Kentucky University and The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky.

References

  1. ↑ Winebrenner, Susan, Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom (Free Spirit Publishing, Inc, Minneapolis, MN, 2001), p. 177.
  2. ↑ Rogers, Reforming..., p. 226
  3. ↑ Schuler
  4. ↑ Schuler
  5. ↑ Schuler
  6. ↑ Schuler
  7. ↑ Schuler, Patricia A., Cluster Grouping Coast to Coast, Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, University of Connecticut
  8. ↑ Rogers, Karen B, Ph.D. The Relationship of Grouping Practices to the Education of the Gifted and Talented Learner, (The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, 1991 ) pp. 29-30.
  9. ↑ Winebrenner, p. 179.
  10. ↑ Gentry, M. (1996), Cluster grouping: An investigation of student achievement, identification and classroom practices. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Connecticut, Storrs.
  11. ↑ Schuler
  12. ↑ Winbrenner, p. 197.
  13. ↑ Winebrenner, p. 180.
  14. ↑ Schuler
  15. ↑ Winebrenner, pp. 180-181.
  16. ↑ Winebrenner, p. 178.
  17. ↑ Winebrenner, p. 177.
  18. ↑ Winebrenner and Devlin
  19. ↑ Rogers, Karen B, Ph.D., The Relationship of Grouping Practices to the Education of the Gifted and Talented Learner, (The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, 1991 ) p. xiii.
  20. ↑ Winebrenner, p. 178.
  21. ↑ Gentry, Marcia L. "Promoting Student Achievement and Exemplary Classroom Practices Through Cluster Grouping: A Research-Based Alternative to Heterogeneous Elementary Classrooms." Research Monograph 99138. Storrs, CT: NRC/GT, University of Connecticut, 1999.
  22. ↑ Rogers, Reforming..., p. 219.
  23. ↑ "Part II. The Current Status of Education for the Nation's Most Talented Students," in National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent (online). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 1993)
  24. ↑ Davidson, Jan and Bob, with Vanderkam, Laura (Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, NY, NY, 2004) Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds, p. 67.
  25. ↑ Rogers, Re-forming..., p. 221.
  26. ↑ Winebrenner, Susan, and Devlin, Barbara, Cluster Grouping Fact Sheet: How to Provide Full-Time Services for Gifted Students on Limited Budgets
  27. ↑ Rogers, Reforming..., p. 249.

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