Advanced search
Publication Cover
British Educational Research Journal Volume 30, 2004 - Issue 2
Journal homepage
846
Views
83
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

It’s not which school but which set you’re in that matters: the influence of ability grouping practices on student progress in mathematicsFootnote1

Dylan Wiliam * ETS, USAView further author information
&
Hannah Bartholomew King’s College London, UKCorrespondence[email protected]
Pages 279-293 | Received 01 Jun 2002, Accepted 01 Jul 2003, Published online: 19 Oct 2010

Citations (83)

Keep up to date with the latest research on this topic with citation updates for this article.

Subscribe to citation updates

Read on this site (43)

David Pomeroy, Liam Gibson & Richard Manning. (2024) How Streaming (Tracking) in Eighth Grade Mathematics Reinforces Racialized Social Class Inequalities in Aotearoa New Zealand. Peabody Journal of Education 99:1, pages 4-22.
Read now
Ashraf Alam & Atasi Mohanty. (2023) Cultural beliefs and equity in educational institutions: exploring the social and philosophical notions of ability groupings in teaching and learning of mathematics. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth 28:1.
Read now
Cathleen Halligan & Ed Baines. (2023) How do teachers engage students in the lowest attaining English sets in high achieving schools? A mixed methods, multiple case study. Cambridge Journal of Education 53:1, pages 97-116.
Read now
Shaun D. Wilkinson & Dawn Penney. (2022) Mixed-ability grouping in physical education: investigating ability and inclusivity in pedagogic practice. Sport, Education and Society 27:7, pages 775-788.
Read now
Samyia Ambreen. (2021) Children’s Perspectives Toward Ability-Based Group Work in a Primary Classroom. Journal of Research in Childhood Education 35:4, pages 651-665.
Read now
Shaun D. Wilkinson, Dawn Penney, Linda Allin & Paul Potrac. (2021) The enactment of setting policy in secondary school physical education. Sport, Education and Society 26:6, pages 619-633.
Read now
Shaun D. Wilkinson & Dawn Penney. (2021) Setting policy and student agency in physical education: Students as policy actors. Sport, Education and Society 26:3, pages 267-280.
Read now
Eleanore Hargreaves, Laura Quick & Denise Buchanan. (2021) ‘I got rejected’: investigating the status of ‘low-attaining’ children in primary-schooling. Pedagogy, Culture & Society 29:1, pages 79-97.
Read now
Kira J. Carbonneau. (2020) Teacher judgments of student mathematics achievement: the moderating role of student-teacher conflict. Educational Psychology 40:10, pages 1211-1229.
Read now
Tom Francome & Dave Hewitt. (2020) “My math lessons are all about learning from your mistakes”: how mixed-attainment mathematics grouping affects the way students experience mathematics. Educational Review 72:4, pages 475-494.
Read now
Jesse Lee Rhoades & Timothy Hopper. (2020) Reciprocal recursive nonconscious behavior mimicry, PE groupings, and modification-by-adaptation. Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education 11:2, pages 145-162.
Read now
Emma Towers, Becky Taylor, Antonina Tereshchenko & Anna Mazenod. (2020) ‘The reality is complex’: teachers’ and school leaders’ accounts and justifications of grouping practices in the English key stage 2 classroom. Education 3-13 48:1, pages 22-36.
Read now
Dylan Wiliam. (2019) Some reflections on the role of evidence in improving education. Educational Research and Evaluation 25:1-2, pages 127-139.
Read now
Anna Mazenod, Becky Francis, Louise Archer, Jeremy Hodgen, Becky Taylor, Antonina Tereshchenko & David Pepper. (2019) Nurturing learning or encouraging dependency? Teacher constructions of students in lower attainment groups in English secondary schools. Cambridge Journal of Education 49:1, pages 53-68.
Read now
Nick Pratt. (2018) Playing the levelling field: teachers’ management of assessment in English primary schools. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice 25:5, pages 504-518.
Read now
Attila Szabo & Paul Andrews. (2018) Uncovering the Relationship Between Mathematical Ability and Problem Solving Performance of Swedish Upper Secondary School Students. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 62:4, pages 555-569.
Read now
Dimitra Hartas. (2018) Setting for English and Maths: 11-year-olds’ characteristics and teacher perceptions of school attitudes. Research Papers in Education 33:3, pages 393-410.
Read now
Olivia Johnston & Helen Wildy. (2018) Teachers’ perspectives of lower secondary school students in streamed classes – A Western Australian case study. Educational Studies 44:2, pages 212-229.
Read now
Janke M. Faber, Cees A. W. Glas & Adrie J. Visscher. (2018) Differentiated instruction in a data-based decision-making context. School Effectiveness and School Improvement 29:1, pages 43-63.
Read now
Becky Taylor, Becky Francis, Louise Archer, Jeremy Hodgen, David Pepper, Antonina Tereshchenko & Mary-Claire Travers. (2017) Factors deterring schools from mixed attainment teaching practice. Pedagogy, Culture & Society 25:3, pages 327-345.
Read now
Anna-Kaisa Berisha & Piia Seppänen. (2017) Pupil selection segments urban comprehensive schooling in Finland: composition of school classes in pupils’ school performance, gender, and ethnicity. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 61:2, pages 240-254.
Read now
Becky Francis, Louise Archer, Jeremy Hodgen, David Pepper, Becky Taylor & Mary-Claire Travers. (2017) Exploring the relative lack of impact of research on ‘ability grouping’ in England: a discourse analytic account. Cambridge Journal of Education 47:1, pages 1-17.
Read now
Joacim Ramberg. (2016) The extent of ability grouping in Swedish upper secondary schools: a national survey. International Journal of Inclusive Education 20:7, pages 685-710.
Read now
Vijaya M. Dharan. (2015) Beginning teachers and diversity – why the need for extended critical professional support. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education 43:1, pages 61-74.
Read now
Shaun D. Wilkinson & Dawn Penney. (2014) The effects of setting on classroom teaching and student learning in mainstream mathematics, English and science lessons: a critical review of the literature in England. Educational Review 66:4, pages 411-427.
Read now
Samantha Parsons & Sue Hallam. (2014) The impact of streaming on attainment at age seven: evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study. Oxford Review of Education 40:5, pages 567-589.
Read now
Rachel Marks. (2014) Educational triage and ability-grouping in primary mathematics: a case-study of the impacts on low-attaining pupils. Research in Mathematics Education 16:1, pages 38-53.
Read now
David Gillborn. (2014) Racism as Policy: A Critical Race Analysis of Education Reforms in the United States and England. The Educational Forum 78:1, pages 26-41.
Read now
Susan Hallam & Samantha Parsons. (2013) The incidence and make up of ability grouped sets in the UK primary school. Research Papers in Education 28:4, pages 393-420.
Read now
Panagiota Konstantinou-Katzi, Eleni Tsolaki, Maria Meletiou-Mavrotheris & Mary Koutselini. (2013) Differentiation of teaching and learning mathematics: an action research study in tertiary education. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 44:3, pages 332-349.
Read now
Suzanne Elizabeth Macqueen. (2013) Grouping for inequity. International Journal of Inclusive Education 17:3, pages 295-309.
Read now
Simon Boone & Mieke Van Houtte. (2013) Why are teacher recommendations at the transition from primary to secondary education socially biased? A mixed-methods research. British Journal of Sociology of Education 34:1, pages 20-38.
Read now
Ruth Goodman & Diana Burton. (2012) What is the nature of the achievement gap, why does it persist and are government goals sufficient to create social justice in the education system?. Education 3-13 40:5, pages 500-514.
Read now
Máiréad Dunne, Sara Humphreys, Alan Dyson, Judy Sebba, Frances Gallannaugh & Daniel Muijs. (2011) The teaching and learning of pupils in low-attainment sets. The Curriculum Journal 22:4, pages 485-513.
Read now
Michael Plank, Alex James & John Hannah. (2011) Group by subject or by ability? Tertiary mathematics for engineering students. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 42:7, pages 857-865.
Read now
Keith S. Taber, Fran Riga, Sue Brindley, Mark Winterbottom, John Finney & Linda G. Fisher. (2011) Formative conceptions of assessment: trainee teachers’ thinking about assessment issues in English secondary schools. Teacher Development 15:2, pages 171-186.
Read now
Daniel Muijs & Mairead Dunne. (2010) Setting by ability – or is it? A quantitative study of determinants of set placement in English secondary schools. Educational Research 52:4, pages 391-407.
Read now
David Gillborn. (2010) Reform, racism and the centrality of whiteness: assessment, ability and the ‘new eugenics’. Irish Educational Studies 29:3, pages 231-252.
Read now
Heather Mendick. (2008) Subtracting difference: troubling transitions from GCSE to AS‐level mathematics. British Educational Research Journal 34:6, pages 711-732.
Read now
Emma Charlton, Martin Mills, Wayne Martino & Lori Beckett. (2007) Sacrificial girls: a case study of the impact of streaming and setting on gender reform. British Educational Research Journal 33:4, pages 459-478.
Read now
Pat Thomson & Helen Gunter. (2006) From ‘consulting pupils’ to ‘pupils as researchers’: a situated case narrative. British Educational Research Journal 32:6, pages 839-856.
Read now
Barbara Allebone. (2006) Who should I put in circle group? Influences on the practices of beginning teachers: a small study. Education 3-13 34:2, pages 131-141.
Read now
Dylan Wiliam , Clare Lee, Christine Harrison & Paul Black. (2004) Teachers developing assessment for learning: impact on student achievement. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice 11:1, pages 49-65.
Read now

Articles from other publishers (40)

Linlin Hu. (2024) Utilization of differentiated instruction in K-12 classrooms: a systematic literature review (2000–2022). Asia Pacific Education Review 25:2, pages 507-525.
Crossref
Fiona Gogescu. (2024) Mapping the distinct patterns of educational and social stratification in European countries. Journal of European Social Policy.
Crossref
Shaun D. Wilkinson & Dawn Penney. (2024) Students' preferences for setting and/or mixed‐ability grouping in secondary school physical education in England. British Educational Research Journal.
Crossref
Carmen L.A. Zurbriggen, Lena Nusser, Mireille Krischler & Monja Schmitt. (2023) Teachers' judgment accuracy of students’ subjective well-being in school: In search of explanatory factors. Teaching and Teacher Education 133, pages 104304.
Crossref
Veselin Mićanović, Dijana Vučković, Biljana Maslovarić, Nada Šakotić & Tatjana Novović. (2023) Effects and challenges to implement differentiated mathematics teaching among fourth graders in Montenegro. South African Journal of Education 43:3, pages 1-11.
Crossref
Jeremy Hodgen, Becky Taylor, Becky Francis, Nicole Craig, Nicola Bretscher, Antonina Tereshchenko, Paul Connolly & Anna Mazenod. (2022) The achievement gap: The impact of between‐class attainment grouping on pupil attainment and educational equity over time. British Educational Research Journal 49:2, pages 209-230.
Crossref
Zheng Chen, Wenjie Duan, Qinqiao Liu & Xuesong Kong. 2023. Positive Psychology and Positive Education in Asia. Positive Psychology and Positive Education in Asia 93 114 .
Shaun D. Wilkinson & Dawn Penney. (2022) ‘The participation group means that I'm low ability’: Students’ perspectives on the enactment of ‘mixed‐ability’ grouping in secondary school physical education. British Educational Research Journal 48:5, pages 932-951.
Crossref
Kane Meissel, Esther S. Yao & Frauke Meyer. (2022) Teacher judgment (in)accuracy: Differential relations with student progress in writing. Contemporary Educational Psychology 69, pages 102067.
Crossref
Vikki Boliver & Queralt Capsada-Munsech. (2021) Does ability grouping affect UK primary school pupils’ enjoyment of Maths and English?. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 76, pages 100629.
Crossref
Charlotte S. Skipp & Eleanor J. Dommett. (2021) Understanding and Addressing the Deficiencies in UK Mathematics Education: Taking an International Perspective. Education Sciences 11:3, pages 141.
Crossref
Samyia Ambreen & Jean Conteh. (2021) Children’s Interactions in Ability-based Groups in a Primary Classroom. The European Educational Researcher 4:1, pages 85-107.
Crossref
Anne WatsonAnne Watson. 2021. Care in Mathematics Education. Care in Mathematics Education 75 93 .
Paul Connolly, Becky Taylor, Becky Francis, Louise Archer, Jeremy Hodgen, Anna Mazenod & Antonina Tereshchenko. (2019) The misallocation of students to academic sets in maths: A study of secondary schools in England. British Educational Research Journal 45:4, pages 873-897.
Crossref
Becky Francis, Jeremy Hodgen, Nicole Craig, Becky Taylor, Louise Archer, Anna Mazenod, Antonina Tereshchenko & Paul Connolly. (2019) Teacher ‘quality’ and attainment grouping: The role of within-school teacher deployment in social and educational inequality. Teaching and Teacher Education 77, pages 183-192.
Crossref
Louise Archer, Becky Francis, Sarah Miller, Becky Taylor, Antonina Tereshchenko, Anna Mazenod, David Pepper & Mary‐Claire Travers. (2018) The symbolic violence of setting: A Bourdieusian analysis of mixed methods data on secondary students’ views about setting. British Educational Research Journal 44:1, pages 119-140.
Crossref
Mieke Van Houtte. (2017) Gender Differences in Context: The Impact of Track Position on Study Involvement in Flemish Secondary Education. Sociology of Education 90:4, pages 275-295.
Crossref
Kane Meissel, Frauke Meyer, Esther S. Yao & Christine M. Rubie-Davies. (2017) Subjectivity of teacher judgments: Exploring student characteristics that influence teacher judgments of student ability. Teaching and Teacher Education 65, pages 48-60.
Crossref
Clare Lee & Sue Johnston-Wilder. 2017. Understanding Emotions in Mathematical Thinking and Learning. Understanding Emotions in Mathematical Thinking and Learning 269 291 .
Nick Pratt & Peter Kelly. (2016) The cultural construction of subject discipline knowledge: comparing ‘abstraction’ in two international contexts. Research in Comparative and International Education 11:4, pages 434-448.
Crossref
Nick Pratt. (2016) Neoliberalism and the (internal) marketisation of primary school assessment in England. British Educational Research Journal 42:5, pages 890-905.
Crossref
Shaun Wilkinson, Dawn Penney & Linda Allin. (2015) Setting and within-class ability grouping. European Physical Education Review 22:3, pages 336-354.
Crossref
Steve Strand. (2016) Do some schools narrow the gap? Differential school effectiveness revisited. Review of Education 4:2, pages 107-144.
Crossref
Olivia Johnston & Helen Wildy. (2016) The effects of streaming in the secondary school on learning outcomes for Australian students – A review of the international literature. Australian Journal of Education 60:1, pages 42-59.
Crossref
Sara Bragg. (2016) Perspectives on ‘Choice and Challenge’ in primary schools. Improving Schools 19:1, pages 80-93.
Crossref
Ramon FlechaRamon Flecha. 2015. Successful Educational Actions for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe. Successful Educational Actions for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe 21 30 .
Mike Askew. 2015. Diversity in Mathematics Education. Diversity in Mathematics Education 129 145 .
Jane Mellanby & Katy Theobald. 2014. Education and Learning. Education and Learning 207 238 .
Jan Retelsdorf, Michael Becker, Olaf Köller & Jens Möller. (2011) Reading development in a tracked school system: A longitudinal study over 3 years using propensity score matching. British Journal of Educational Psychology 82:4, pages 647-671.
Crossref
Michel Rousseau, Marielle Simon, Richard Bertrand & Krystal Hachey. (2011) Reporting missing data: a study of selected articles published from 2003–2007. Quality & Quantity 46:5, pages 1393-1406.
Crossref
Suzanne Macqueen. (2011) Academic outcomes from between-class achievement grouping: the Australian primary context. The Australian Educational Researcher 39:1, pages 59-73.
Crossref
Mustafa Bahar. (2012) Student Perception of Shift from Homogenous Grouping to Heterogeneous Grouping at a University Class. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 46, pages 1886-1892.
Crossref
황여정. (2010) Impacts of Ability Grouping on Academic Achievement of Middle School Students. Korean journal of sociology of education 20:4, pages 191-222.
Crossref
Mark Boylan. (2010) Ecologies of participation in school classrooms. Teaching and Teacher Education 26:1, pages 61-70.
Crossref
Mieke Van Houtte & Peter A. J. Stevens. (2009) Study Involvement of Academic and Vocational Students: Does Between-School Tracking Sharpen the Difference?. American Educational Research Journal 46:4, pages 943-973.
Crossref
Mark Boylan. (2009) Engaging with issues of emotionality in mathematics teacher education for social justice. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education 12:6, pages 427-443.
Crossref
Martin Mills, Merrilyn Goos, Amanda Keddie, Eileen Honan, Donna Pendergast, Rob Gilbert, Kim Nichols, Peter Renshaw & Tony Wright. (2009) Productive pedagogies: A redefined methodology for analysing quality teacher practice. The Australian Educational Researcher 36:3, pages 67-87.
Crossref
Christine Howe. 2009. Peer Groups and Children's Development. Peer Groups and Children's Development 201 226 .
Beth Rubin. (2022) Detracking in Context: How Local Constructions of Ability Complicate Equity-Geared Reform. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education 110:3, pages 646-699.
Crossref
Yvette Solomon. (2007) Experiencing mathematics classes: Ability grouping, gender and the selective development of participative identities. International Journal of Educational Research 46:1-2, pages 8-19.
Crossref

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Order Reprints Request Corporate Permissions

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

Request Academic Permissions

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.

Related research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.