Age Assigned Versus Ability Assigned Classrooms

In Denver, Colorado, the Denver-area district is trying a new way of placing students in grades. The old way of spending time in classrooms doing the same work as the other students and moving up a grade, as the kids get older is changing. They are now trying a new way of moving up grade levels by the student’s ability. This seems way more practical. By catering to the student’s abilities rather than the overall assumptions of what students at that age can handle, it will help the student’s progress easier in school. Students that are not being challenged enough will get bored and since they aren’t being challenged properly it hinders their learning abilities. Students that learn more slowly would benefit from being in a grade that is suited more towards their learning abilities so they too can progress in a better way and learn more and at a faster pace.

By students being able to learn at their own pace and move up levels depending on their abilities they will get the most out of school. They can progress more quickly and with a better understanding of the material. Instead of students “getting by” in their classes and not fully understanding it they can be placed in the grades that they should be in and learn at a pace suited more towards their learning abilities. By schools doing this, the students will be better prepared for college and get the most out of their educational experience since they are able to fully understand each subject at their own pace.

The only thing that may not be beneficial with this new way schools are starting to assign grades is social interruptions. The ability assigned grades are definitely beneficial to the student’s education wide, but socially it might not be the best idea. What will happen if a student’s best and only friend falls behind and they progress two levels above them? Not only will this create hardship for the student left behind, making them feel “stupid” or unworthy of leveling up like their best friend has, but then they will be forced to be in classrooms with different aged students and depending on the ages of the students around them, they might feel too old, or too young around them. No matter what the educational abilities are, maturity is another thing altogether.

If a student is fourteen and in a senior classroom with all eighteen year olds because of they way they placed in subject tests, their maturity level is entirely different and wont mesh well with the older kids. They may feel left out of their peer’s invitations to birthdays or events because they are too young and feel discouraged because of this. Also kids that are eighteen and stuck in classrooms with fourteen year olds because of their abilities, they will feel not worthy and “stupid” as well.

It would be hard to find a balanced of goof education and social benefits but for a while now we have been doing it by age assigned classrooms with occasional students being able to skip grades based on teacher recommendations, and this seems the more socially and educational balanced option.

By: Patricia Hawke

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit Denver School Rankings and Public School Rankings