‘The reality is complex’: teachers’ and school leaders’ accounts and justifications of grouping practices in the English key stage 2 classroom

ABSTRACT

Grouping pupils by attainment is frequently practised in primary schools yet is associated with detrimental effects for middle- and lower-attaining children. Drawing on a mixed methods study, we find that attainment grouping practices at key stage 2 in primary schools are seldom straightforward. Although grouping by attainment appears to be the dominant form of grouping, the language used by teachers to talk about their classroom practice suggests a varied and sometimes complex picture. We explore how school leaders and teachers justify their grouping practices and conclude that primary school educators endeavour to strike a balance between their concern for the child and the need to respond to the demands of testing and assessment. In the wake of new reforms to primary education, the findings in this study are significant and timely in providing a picture of the types of grouping currently being carried out in primary schools across England.

KEYWORDS:

• Grouping practices
• pupil grouping
• primary school
• key stage 2
• attainment grouping
• mixed attainment grouping

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the contribution of Professor Becky Francis to the study as well as to Professor Louise Archer and Professor Jeremy Hodgen for their discussions and advice on the design of the study. The corresponding author wishes to acknowledge the seed corn grant awarded for this study by UCL Institute of Education.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Emma Towers http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3468-0257

Becky Taylor http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7257-4463

Anna Mazenod http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0175-1634

Notes

1 Until September 2015 the national curriculum was accompanied by a series of 8 levels that were used to measure the progress of children aged 5–14 years and compared to pupils of the same age across the country.

2 Since September 2015, individual schools decide how they assess pupils’ progress. Schools use statements such as these to describe pupil progress:

• - -Working at expected standard

• - -Working towards the standard

• - -Working at greater depth

3 The Bristol Online Survey (BOS) www.onlinesurveys.ac.uk

4 A mastery approach to teaching and learning involves understanding a subject in greater depth and for children to be able to represent their knowledge in multiple ways.

5 Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) is a non-ministerial department responsible for inspecting educational institutions in England. Inspectors use a 4 point grading scale to make judgements during inspections: 1 Outstanding; 2 Good; 3 Requires Improvement; 4 Inadequate.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by a seed corn grant from UCL Institute of Education.