TEACHERS GROUPING PRACTICES IN 5TH-GRADE SCIENCE CLASSROOMS

Although small-group learning is an essential part of instruction in n early all of today's elementary schools, little is known about how tea chers group students. In the study reported here, observations of 30 f ifth-grade teachers in a large urban school district revealed that the composition of groups for hands-on science instruction varied greatly , both among teachers and within classrooms. Generally, teachers tende d to form heterogeneous groups in relation to the composition of their classrooms, whereas students tended to form homogeneous groups with r espect to gender and ethnicity and to a lesser extent achievement. How ever, classroom composition (i.e., percentage minority or low achiever s) severely constrained some teachers' grouping options, and these tea chers often formed groups in ways that contradicted recommended practi ces. Teachers' stated grouping practices on the basis of student achie vement did not always correspond to classroom observations. Further fa ctors that teachers did not explicitly mention, such as ethnicity, wer e the basis of the composition of many groups. Implications of these f indings for practice and further research are discussed.