Grouping kids by perceived intelligence could actually be a net harm in the socialization aspect of school. Public schools are currently a more or less heteroge

Grouping kids by perceived intelligence could actually be a net harm in the socialization aspect of school. Public schools are currently a more or less heterogenous mix of everyone in the community. Splitting by perceived intelligence would homogenize groups of kids, probably along economic lines (college educated parents likely to be more involved in their kids education, more able to afford tutoring and such than blue collar or poverty level parents) You're also assuming that grouping "smart" and "dumb" kids together harms both parties. In my experience the opposite is often true. Being forced to help someone understand a difficult concept often leads to new insight and deeper understanding. Similarly the kids who have trouble understanding a concept have access to the quicker students for help whereas in a homogenized class the only help would be the instructor, who has to divide their attention among all students.