Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence

"During writing workshop one morning in Sara and Patty's team-taught, nongraded, multi-age, primary classroom, Shawna (age 8) and Jackie (age 6), sit together at a table. Jackie keeps a constant eye on Shawna as she writes. Looking at Shawna's long story, Jackie says, "I can't write good." Shawna looks up and says, "It takes time. I used to be able to write just a little, but now I am older and can write real good. Just keep trying and you will be a good writer, too." Jackie scrunches her face and begins writing again."

In nongraded, multi-age classrooms, children have the opportunity to learn a great deal from their more proficient classmates. In the instance above, Jackie not only witnessed what better writers do but she also learned that she, too, may write that way one day. Children in multi-age, nongraded programs often learn that children differ, and they learn to assist each other in productive ways. The organizational scheme has the potential to remove much of the competition of traditionally graded class-rooms and, for many children, the stigma of being "behind."