Grouping students of all abilities play a key role in the academic success, peer intervention, and socialization of an individual. Teaching in the least restrictive environment is a requirement for the Individuals with Education Disability Act (IDEA) and requires that students with special needs be educated in a general education setting. There are various grouping strategies that a teacher or team leader can incorporate to assist students with all types of abilities. Deciding what type of group to utilize can be a complex task. The general education teacher may want to collaborate with the special education teacher to devise a plan that would benefit the students with and without disabilities that need instructional support (Friend, & Bursuck, …show more content…
The regrouping strategy is based on his or her reading level and is concentrated on limiting a student being labeled. Achievement is based on his or her progress and not the ability level. Furthermore, regrouping is more flexible as it pertains to altering assignments. The instructional level and the pace of the student must match the student’s progress level. The altering of the student’s pace and level of instruction has proven to have a positive outcome as it relates to his or her achievements in reading. For instance, when the team leader can accommodate the individual instruction level and pace for the student, the outcome is usually high achievement. The regrouping strategy is a “within strategy” and is useful in minimizing heterogeneity in reading (Slavin, …show more content…
The within ability strategy is primarily for reading or math classes. The within ability grouping give the teacher the flexible to teach one group and allow the other group to work independently on other assignments. The achievement is greater when the grouping is confined to no more than three students (Dubé, Dorval, & Bessette, 2013). It is important to emphasize that using the within ability grouping may have negative effects if the students are not on the same level. For instance, if a student is placed in the within ability group with a moderate learning disability with general education students, he or she may experience low self-esteem and motivation. The prevalence of preparing a small group utilizes certain benefits such as more teacher and student instructional time, and the improvement of socialization between students (Vaughn,