It is common practice in elementary science classrooms to have students create representations, such as drawings, as a way of exploring new content. While numerous studies suggest the benefits of representation in science, the majority focus on specific, canonical representations, such as graphs. Few offer insight or guidance regarding how…

Educational institutions in higher education both in Europe and in the United States are increasingly integrating lifelong learning in a context of sustained augmentation of age diversity among their students. Therefore, multiage and multigenerational classrooms are becoming more frequent teaching and learning settings. This article argues that…

Group interventions have been useful for survivors to overcome the challenges of cancer. This study employed a pre/post, mixed-methods design to explore the influence of an 8-week support group on the holistic wellness of 14 breast cancer survivors. Pairing experiential activities with wellness-centered psychoeducation was viewed positively by…

This article reports on a study of literacy practices in a Norwegian preschool where deaf and hearing children are enrolled in the same group and where communication is based on both sign language and spoken language. The aim of the study was to explore pathways to literacy for young deaf children within this setting. Our implicit assumption is…

The aim of this action research project was to investigate students' social preferences and pro-social interactions in a multiage, high school classroom in order to better understand how to group students to maximize learning and collaboration. According to many educational experts and previous inquiries, mixed-age learning groups introduce…

This study investigates the sources of mentors' knowledge about teaching. A mixed-method research design combining quantitative and qualitative data collection methods was used to examine this area. The findings of the study suggest that: mentors' knowledge about teaching is practice orientated and emerges from their professional…

In this article the author describes the "Derby Design Day" project--a project that paired high school honors physics students with second-grade children for a design challenge and competition. The overall project goals were to discover whether collaboration in a design process would: (1) increase an interest in science; (2) enhance the…

Despite policy and theoretical support for mixed-age classrooms in early childhood, research examining associations between age-mixing and children's outcomes is inconclusive and warrants further investigation, particularly in preschools serving children who are at risk for poor adjustment to formal schooling. One recent study conducted in…

Multiage programming is a school reform option used throughout the United States. Much of the current literature focuses on the short-term benefits of multiage programs, particularly at the elementary level, with little consideration for long-term effects or for what might happen to students once they leave the multiage classroom and enter middle…

A first-year teacher thrust mid-term into a mixed-grade geometry class in a tough high school struggles to sort out what works and does not work to engage the 120 students in meaningful learning. The students are largely from low-income urban families and demonstrate a broad range of abilities and motivation. The purpose of this study is to…

This is the 2011 Yearbook of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA). This Yearbook contains five parts. Part I, Invited Chapters, includes: (1) NCPEA President's Message, 2011 (Gary W. Kinsey); (2) Shadows and Images II (Lloyd Duvall); and (3) Micropolitics in the School: Teacher Leaders' Use of Political Skill…

This longitudinal quantitative study compared literacy achievement of students from second through sixth grade based on two organizational systems: graded (traditional) and nongraded (multiage) classrooms. The California Standards Test (CST) scaled and proficiency scores for English-Language Arts (ELA) were used as the study's independent variable…

This study reveals the challenges confronting small, rural "frontier" schools in Montana and the practices that contribute to their sustainability. A Montana frontier school is defined as a school district with 200 or fewer students and its attendant community in a county with five or fewer people per square mile. The researcher surveyed…

Teachers and administrators are faced with a basic question when planning for a school year: how should the students be grouped when coming to school? Should students of similar age be together or should students be assigned to multi-age classrooms at the elementary school level? If the multi-age method is chosen, how will academic progress be…

Practical and engaging, this book contains 21 case studies that help students apply curriculum theory to classroom reality. Each case is authored by an in-service teacher, reflecting on ways to improve instruction by making changes to various aspects of the curriculum. These real-life examples investigate up-to-date curricular issues ranging from…