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ED373899 PS022634
Title: Strategies for Developing Multi-Age Classrooms.
Author(s): Hallion, Andrea M.
Pages: 25
Publication Date: March 1994
Notes: Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the National Association of Elementary School Principals Association (Orlando, FL, March 4-9, 1994).
Available from: EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
Language: English
Document Type: Opinion papers (120); Speeches/meeting papers (150)
Geographic Source: U.S.; Massachusetts
Journal Announcement: RIEJAN1995
This paper
traces the development of graded and non-graded classrooms in the
United States in the 19th and 20th centuries and describes the implementation
of multiage classrooms at an elementary school in Hopedale, Massachusetts.
After defining what is meant by multiage classrooms, the paper discusses
the role of Horace Mann, who was then a secretary for the Massachusetts
Board of Education, in implementing the first graded classrooms
in the United States in the 1840s. It also reviews early criticisms
of graded education, especially those voiced by John Dewey, who
felt that graded classrooms were too confining and machine-like.
The paper then addresses the influences on the move back to nongraded
or multiage classrooms in the late 20th century, reviews recent
research on multiage instruction, and presents the educational benefits
of multiage classrooms. Finally, the personal experiences of an
elementary school principal responsible for the implementation of
multiage classrooms at her school are presented. (MDM)
Descriptors: Administrator Role; Child Development; Classroom Environment;
*Educational Attitudes; Educational Change; *Educational History;
*Educational Strategies; Educational Trends; Elementary Education;
Learning Processes; *Mixed Age Grouping; *Nongraded Instructional
Grouping; Principals; Program Implementation
Identifiers: Developmentally Appropriate Programs; Dewey (John);
Mann (Horace)
