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2010 Parent Edu-Session Series
Dynamics of the Multi-age Classroom
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Overview
 History of the Multiage Classroom
 What Is a Multiage Classroom
 Benefits of Multiage Classrooms
 Disadvantages of Multiage Classrooms
 FAQs
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History
 Multiage was once the norm- One room schoolhouse
 A graduate of one of the last one-room schoolhouses
in the U.S. said: "Success for many of us was a
natural consequence of that environment" (Heynen).
 He added an anecdote: "When the teacher called,
'Eighth-grade history,' and the eighth graders walked
forward, we might have heard about the Constitution,
for example. Those of us in the lower grades would
have been given that lesson peripherally, indirectly,
many times before we were taught it directly"
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History
 By 1860, particularly in the large cities, the answer
to this problem (with public schools and the huge
influx of students) became very clear -- create single
grades in a school.
 David Tyack, an educational historian at Stanford
University, reports that by 1870 the single grade idea
had spread throughout the United States.
 Typically, the only exceptions to this organization
were schools in rural areas that did not have enough
children to create a single grade.
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History
 Throughout the 1900s, as our country
became more industrialized, many
educational policy makers sought to continue
the tradition of making schools "efficient" by
applying concepts from the factory assembly
line to public education.
 Once this happened, the concept of "grade
level" became cemented in American
schools.
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History
 No one is tracking the number of multiage classes
operating nationwide, but the number peaked in
the late 1990s.
 Multiage classes continue to operate in every state
and in public, private and charter schools.
 Multiage education is more prevalent in Canada,
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Europe and parts of Asia, and while some of that
interest may be philosophically driven, it is largely
because it is an economical way to deliver
education in less heavily populated areas
What is a multi-age classroom?
 Includes students with at least a three
year span in chronological age, who would
previously have been placed in two
different grades.
 Each student remains in the same
classroom with the same teacher(s) for at
least two school years, and often longer.
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What is a multi-age classroom?
 Teacher perceives each student not as a
member of a grade grouping but as the
individual she/he is, with a multiplicity of
qualities and capabilities, not all of which are
at the same level of development.
 The children learn to perceive each other less
and less in terms of grade membership and
more and more in terms of specific personal
qualities and capabilities.
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What is a multi-age classroom?
 Chronological age becomes less important as a
determinant of children’s relationships, while
developmental age becomes more important.
 A multiage classroom generates more profound
relationships between teacher and students,
among students, and between teacher and
parents.
 The metaphor of family characterizes the social
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qualities of the classrooms.
What is a multi-age classroom?
 Teachers move from “teaching to an
imaginary middle of the class” to
conceiving and structuring learning
activities that meet the needs of diverse
individuals.
 The very structure of age grading
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encourages many teachers to perceive
their students as similar and to conceive
teaching as an activity directed toward the
whole class.
What is a multi-age classroom?
 Units or activities are planned for
participation by the whole group much of
the time.
 But the individual student’s work may be
more individualized; the expectations will
probably vary, depending on the
individual’s needs and abilities
 Differentiated instruction is at the heart of
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instruction
What are the benefits for students
of multiage classrooms?
 An increase in the quality of relationship
between teacher and student:
 Greater knowledge of the student’s
capacities and needs by the teacher;
 Greater consistency of teacher
behavior and expectations;
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Teacher Student Relationship
 Greater
felt comfort and security in
the classroom
 Greater
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mutual caring and concern
What are the benefits for students
of multiage classrooms?
 Social climate is more positive
 Recognition of diversity by the students
increases their acceptance and even
valuing of difference among their peers
 Reduction of negative norms.
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Climate of the Classroom
 Students
of different ages become
increasingly interdependent because
they often teach each other.
 Modeling,
peer
tutoring and
interdependence
leads to better
learning and
enhanced self-esteem
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Climate of the Classroom
 Children
in a multiage classroom
experience a much wider range of
group roles than in single grade
experience.
 Each child has the opportunity to be
“an elder,” a leader, and role model
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What are the benefits for students
of multiage classrooms?
 Eases the stress of entering a new
classroom for the child and allows the
teacher to pay more attention to each new
student
 Helps teachers to address the dilemma of
failing a student in a way that gets them
“out of the box” of two poor choices, failing
or social promotion.
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Benefits For Teachers
 Deeper, more profound relationships with
kids
 Greater personal rewards in seeing
students’ growth and learning
 Minimizes the stress of starting a new
school year as it supports productive use of
school time right from the first week of
school.
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Benefits For Teachers
 Stronger and more productive
relationships with the parents of their
students
 Continuity from year to year
 Get to apply/must apply best educational
practices or learner centered learning and
differentiated instruction
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Benefits For Parents
 Increase in comfort when they can get to
know a teacher over more than a year. They
know the routine and benefit from it just
like the child.
 Greater likelihood that the parent and
teacher can work together to support a
child’s growth and learning.
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Disadvantages For Students
 None - Unless a poor teacher with poor
instruction
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Disadvantages For Teachers
 It’s a tremendous amount of work
 Curricula change year to year
 Students needs change from year to year
 Parents don’t always understand the
classroom so it’s more work to educate them
 It’s a greater commitment so more
responsibility to the whole program
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Disadvantages For Parents
 Same as for students
 None - Unless a poor teacher with poor
instruction
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FAQ: Are multiage classrooms less
structured?
 Structure is an interesting concept based on
one’s perspective and comfort.
 Multiage is highly structured
 To orchestrate large group instruction,
small group instruction, student-centered
learning and independent projects, there
has to be a set of negotiated rules and
routines worked out between the teacher
and students.
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“Charodic”
 Chaordic – term coined by top educational
experts to describe most effective student
centered classrooms where every student
is on task.
 Goal - Students are on task and engaged
in a learning activity a large percentage of
the day
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FAQ: Are multiage classrooms less
structured?
 ‘Structure’ is teacher specific, not classroom type
specific.
 Some teachers can manage more freedom and
flexibility than others. It doesn’t have to do with
multiage or single-age classes necessarily.
 There are teachers of single-age classes that offer
more movement than the traditional model of
classroom; and there are multiage teachers that
limit the amount of movement and noise within
their class.
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FAQ: Will multiage students end up
with gaps in the curriculum?
 When student learning is being monitored by one
teacher over a number of years, it is less likely that
they will end up with gaps in their conceptual and skill
development.
 Over this span of years, students in multiage classes
will cover the same topics as their peers in single
grades.
 If teachers and students alike are conscious of power
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standards, the multiage years give more time for
some standards to be reached by struggling students
but all goals remain the same.
FAQ: Will the oldest age group in the
multiage class get behind their peers
in a single grade class?
 Multiage teachers focus instruction on students’
learning needs rather than on grade-level curriculum.
 The question to be addressed is “what is the student’s
next step?” even if it is several grade levels above
their current placement.
 The teacher’s attention is not divided between the age
groups (as in some multi-grade classes). Therefore,
students have the advantage of continuous learning,
and in many cases will be ahead of their peers in a
single grade class.
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FAQ: Should multiage classes have
fewer students than single grade
classes?
 Workshop style instruction, flexible grouping instruction and
student centered instruction as in multiage classes, requires a
higher demand of teacher time than in classes where direct,
whole-class instruction is prevalent.
 So when comparing to a traditional style of single grade class,
where the teacher is curriculum-centered, the answer to this
question is ‘yes’. However, comparing the multiage class to a
single grade class, where the instruction is more learner-centered,
than the answer to this question would be ‘no’.
 This is why private schools with single grade instruction still have
lower class sizes (10-12 students per class on average)
 It makes sense that the higher the number of students there are
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in a class, the more difficult it is to offer personalized guidance.
FAQ: What is CVIS’s student to teacher
ratio?
 Our goal is 10:1 or less.
 Many multiage private schools are as low as 6:1.
 This year the 1st grade classrooms at MOE have ratios
of ~ 17:1 – 20:1
 In the CVIS K-8 program, we are currently at a 7:1
ratio.
 We are committed to a low student to teacher ratio so
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that we can offer an exceptional learning experience
for every child.
Trend
 There is a decline in multiage instruction today, due in part to
NCLB. However some argue "Progressive-minded
administrators who believe strongly in multiage and have a
vision of how to implement it and a staff to pull it off don't
need to worry about test scores," he says. "If the teaching is
high quality and the curriculum is comprehensive, test scores
will fall into place.“
 Multiage education requires well trained exceptional teachers
who have embraced the pedagogy of multiage education
 Marzano et al suggest multiage classroom may be the best
avenue for implementing the most current researched-based
practices for effective highly engaged classrooms
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Morning at CVIS
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Middle School
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Book Nook
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Large Group Instruction
Small
Group
Instruction
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Independent Work
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