TELL ME WITH WHOM YOURE LEARNING, AND ILL TELL YOU HOW MUCH YOUVE LEARNED - MIXED-ABILITY VERSUS SAME-ABILITY GROUPING IN MATHEMATICS

In this article we report on 3 studies in which we investigated the ef fects of teaching mathematics in a mixed-ability setting on students' achievements and teachers' attitudes. The findings of the first 2 stud ies indicate that the achievements of students need not be compromised in a heterogeneous setting; on the contrary, the achievements of our average and less able students proved to be significantly higher when compared to their peers in the same-ability classes, whereas highly ab le students performed about the same. In the 3rd study we show that pa rticipating in the project workshops had a positive effect on teachers ' attitudes toward teaching in mixed-ability mathematics classes.