Flexible Grouping
Overview
Flexible grouping is a classroom practice that temporarily places students together in given groups to work together, with the purpose of achieving a given learning goal or activity. These groups are adaptive and can account for children's changing needs and interests, based on teacher observation, formative assessment, and student feedback. Flexible grouping is a foundational instructional strategy that supports all students, including multilingual learners, and has been specifically identified as a high leverage practice due to its effectiveness for students with disabilities. Encouraging students to move flexibly between groups allows them to bring their own strengths to the class and gives them the best opportunity to be able to learn with and from each other to strengthen Collaboration and Social Awareness and Relationship Skills among students. This practice supports all students, including students with learning disabilities and multilingual learners, by allowing them to participate in the classroom along with their peers to showcase their strengths and learn from other students with intentionality, , while allowing for variability of strengths across content areas and contexts.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
This school uses flexible grouping across the school, in a “family model” to flexibly group students based on their current needs.
Design It into Your Product
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Cooperative Learning Strategies
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