5 ms·

It's a fact. It's the reason gifted classes were created. From my own mixed-age classroom experience, and stories I've heard about one-room schools, it's not t

It's a fact. It's the reason gifted classes were created. From my own mixed-age classroom experience, and stories I've heard about one-room schools, it's not the mixing of skill levels that holds the advanced class back but the structure of the class. If you're all doing the work at the same speed it has to be the speed of the slowest student so by definition everyone else is held back. This is so obvious that I can't take people seriously when they deny it. It's literally how "the manual" says to teach. But in a multi-path environment where everyone is working at their own speed, this isn't a problem. Even if the advanced students are tasked with some teaching of the slower kids the dynamic changes and they're not being kept down. The maximal form of this is a one-room school where the older and gifted kids are working on their high-level tasks right next to younger and lower-achieving people. This encourages personal accomplishment by creating an environment full of learning opportunities and decoupling your advancement from your age-group.

alistairSH 3y ago
My experience outside of gifted courses was the exact opposite of what you describe as "multi-path". My 7th grade math was the worst example of this... The class was supposed to be some sort of experimental multi-path, and even had an extra teaching aid assigned. However, the end result was the 5-6 gifted kids sitting in the back, bored out of our minds for an entire school year, while the 2 teachers struggled to get the rest of the class to learn. Unfortunately for those of us who were ahead of grade level, this effectively put us behind peers in GT math classes right at the time we were all starting more advanced math topics. I felt like it took me most of high school to get caught up. My parents are still peeved that this class ever existed and it's been nearly 30 years. My son didn't have anything quite so obviously awful. He just tended to perform at the level of his classmates. In gifted classes, he excelled. In mainstream classes, he was mediocre and extremely bored. My take-away - multi-path teaching doesn't work in the typical American classroom (25+ students per class, all the same age, but vastly different skills). It might work in a more controlled environment, where the classes are smaller and the range of skill isn't quite to broad. But, that's atypical in the US.
- LawTalkingGuy 3y ago
  > My take-away - multi-path teaching doesn't work in the typical American classroom (25+ students per class, all the same age, but vastly different skills). Well yeah, do something badly and it won't work. Each student deserves teacher time even if they get further on that time. Instead they generally try to teach the slowest students more as if they'll ever catch up. > My son didn't have anything quite so obviously awful. [...] In gifted classes, he excelled. Well yes, that's small-class tutoring and we know it's almost the ideal. The trick is to replicate that in normal classes, by teaching to the people who will benefit while the others work on exercises, etc. > It might work in a more controlled environment, where the classes are smaller and the range of skill isn't quite to broad. My contention is the opposite, that you want a range of skills from newb to expert, and ideally across ages. You were surely closer to the 6th grade advanced students than the bulk of the 7th grade students who were just getting by. And you may not have been far enough ahead of the 7ths in age and bearing as well as math, and thus not as helpful in teaching as older students would be. Student teachers are a very big part of one-room schools and I think the teaching itself provides invaluable skills in childcare and providing instruction to near peers.

alistairSH 3y ago

My experience outside of gifted courses was the exact opposite of what you describe as "multi-path". My 7th grade math was the worst example of this... The class was supposed to be some sort of experimental multi-path, and even had an extra teaching aid assigned. However, the end result was the 5-6 gifted kids sitting in the back, bored out of our minds for an entire school year, while the 2 teachers struggled to get the rest of the class to learn. Unfortunately for those of us who were ahead of grade level, this effectively put us behind peers in GT math classes right at the time we were all starting more advanced math topics. I felt like it took me most of high school to get caught up. My parents are still peeved that this class ever existed and it's been nearly 30 years. My son didn't have anything quite so obviously awful. He just tended to perform at the level of his classmates. In gifted classes, he excelled. In mainstream classes, he was mediocre and extremely bored. My take-away - multi-path teaching doesn't work in the typical American classroom (25+ students per class, all the same age, but vastly different skills). It might work in a more controlled environment, where the classes are smaller and the range of skill isn't quite to broad. But, that's atypical in the US.

LawTalkingGuy 3y ago
> My take-away - multi-path teaching doesn't work in the typical American classroom (25+ students per class, all the same age, but vastly different skills). Well yeah, do something badly and it won't work. Each student deserves teacher time even if they get further on that time. Instead they generally try to teach the slowest students more as if they'll ever catch up. > My son didn't have anything quite so obviously awful. [...] In gifted classes, he excelled. Well yes, that's small-class tutoring and we know it's almost the ideal. The trick is to replicate that in normal classes, by teaching to the people who will benefit while the others work on exercises, etc. > It might work in a more controlled environment, where the classes are smaller and the range of skill isn't quite to broad. My contention is the opposite, that you want a range of skills from newb to expert, and ideally across ages. You were surely closer to the 6th grade advanced students than the bulk of the 7th grade students who were just getting by. And you may not have been far enough ahead of the 7ths in age and bearing as well as math, and thus not as helpful in teaching as older students would be. Student teachers are a very big part of one-room schools and I think the teaching itself provides invaluable skills in childcare and providing instruction to near peers.