Blazing New Trails - Connexions

CRITICAL ISSUES IN PROMOTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Principals and Teachers Stated Beliefs as Compared with Their
Perceptions of Multiage Implementation
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Dean Halverson
Ruth Ann Tobey Brown
Recently educators have been giving increased attention to multiage instruction, a
child-centered philosophy of education which fosters the use of best practices in curriculum
and instruction (Katz, 1992). An awareness of the benefits of multiage grouping in early
childhood programs has steadily increased because of the greater focus on the importance of
the early year’s development (Katz, 1992; Logue, 2006; Stone, 1995). One of the significant
challenges educators face in the 21 st century is to redesign schools that nurture the social,
emotional, intellectual, and physical needs of all children. The use of multiage classrooms is
one way to meet that challenge
Children in multiage settings benefit from cognitive and social growth (Hunter, 1992;
Stone, 1998). Their emotional health is also positively affected as older children became more
responsible around younger children. Multiage classrooms provide powerful opportunities to
model learning and also allow the same instructor to work with students for more than one
year. Stone (1998) found that children who feel good about their cognitive and social
competencies tended to do better at school and have more friends.
According to Hunter (1992) as schools have prepared to implement multiage
classrooms, it was acknowledged that teachers needed time to absorb the academic benefits of
the multiage philosophy. Teachers often lacked experience in educating more than one age
group in the same classroom. Hunter (1992) suggested that there must be clarification in order
to have a clear understanding before implementation of the multiaged model for instructional
delivery. In addition to training, teachers needed to reflect upon what they had learned as they
shared ideas with other educators on how to maximize multiage benefits (Hunter, 1992).
Miller (1996) indicated that the implementation of multiage instruction and
organization should be viewed as an evolving, long-term change. Special consideration
needed to be given to teacher preparation and support. Miller also found that specific and
practical training in multiage teaching was a necessity. The need for administrative support
clearly signaled the need for administrators to be included in those professional development
activities. Studies had revealed that teacher preparedness, buy-in, and enthusiasm for multiage
education were the deciding factors in a program’s success (Farkas & Duffet, 2008; Miller,
1996). However, a comparison of principals’ and teachers’ beliefs in successful
implementation of multiage education is limited. In addition, the identification of factors that
promote and limit successful implementation of multiage education is needed.
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Dean Halverson, Western Illinois University
Ruth Ann Tobey Brown, Rock Island School District