Grouping For Success

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Situational groupings help support and focus students in key areas

Situational grouping is exactly what it sounds like: Students are grouped based on the frequent formative assessments that occur in the classroom, so the students in each group and the purpose of each small group differ and these groupings change frequently.

In an English class, this week’s “lack of a topic sentence” group disappeared, based on the formative assessment in which all students showed that they were proficient. A new grouping of “run on sentence” students appeared based on the assessment of their current papers. That group lasted until the students showed proficient development, too. Each group only focuses on overcoming their learning gaps in one specific learning goal; each group receives differentiated instruction.

Numerous situation groupings exists at the same time, such as the grouping for “run on sentences,” “transitions,” “vocabulary,” and “There/Their/They're.” Sometimes the teacher works directly with the group, and other times provides direct instruction materials that differs from the initial presentation of the material. Go ahead and use a different presentation mode to help your kids learn in a more successful manner; try a YouTube video that explains the concept in a distinct manner, which may be quite different than that initial handout. Add more structure to the material; your students can then work through it in “baby steps.” You may create various concept maps that guide your students through the learning.

Situational grouping is made possible through the use of a spreadsheet. The educator lists the students' names going down the first column, with the first assessment for the standard going across, leaving spaces for future assessments on this goal. The teacher then administers an assessment on this goal. She decides whether to use a 100-point scoring system or a 4-3-2-1 proficiency system (4=above proficient, 3=proficient, 2= developing; 1=starting). She assesses each student and then enters each score into the appropriate location. Next, she has the computer sort the students' scores from low to high so that she can quickly see the ranges of the students in her class from least successful to most successful. She can see how many students are at each level in the proficiency system scoring. Out of a class of twenty students, she may have two students at the 4 (above proficiency) level, ten at the 3 (proficiency level), six at the 2 (developing level), and two at the 1 (starting level). This teacher has to decide whether the developing and starting level students can be grouped together; usually the students in these two levels are at such different levels of learning that it is better to keep them separate. She has to decide what focused instructional materials will help those students overcome that learning gap. She can copy the names from the spreadsheet to a word processor to create the new groupings. In addition, she may use a spreadsheet or chart to create a rotational schedule to make sure that she can meet with each group during the upcoming week.

After the students have practiced the goal, they are assessed again. The teacher enters these new scores in the spreadsheet, putting them to the right of the previous scores. This time when she sorts, she includes the name, the first assessment and the second assessment; she sorts on the second assessment from lowest to highest. She examines to see the new proficiency level of the students and to decide if the present grouping needs to continue, be modified, or be dissolved.

When a teacher uses situational groupings, she is really focusing on methodically helping students become successful, using various technologies to assist them in this process. The process of situational grouping allows clear, demonstrated growth in the standard's goals.

Dr. Harry Grover Tuttle focuses on assessing and improving student learning through low- and high-tech tools.