Education Commons^™

To Group Or Not To Group: A Qualitative Study Of Middle School Principals' Decision Making Processes Concerning Ability Level Grouping., Linda B. Stroud

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The topic of ability level grouping of students for instructional purposes is one of the most studied areas of research in educational literature. However, because of the inconclusive findings in the literature, no clear answer to the question of whether homogeneous or heterogeneous grouping is in the best educational interest of students has been established. Middle level administrators play a particularly important role in the debate concerning the use of ability grouping in individual schools because the pattern for future educational tracks of students is established at the middle level. An exploration of the factors that affect the decision making …