Keeping Class Size Constant, But Manipulating Organization

More substantive interaction between students and an instructor is associated with higher levels of student engagement. Substantive interaction between teachers and students consisted of presentation of information on academic content, monitoring of work, and feedback about performance. Most student-teacher interaction took place in a group setting, with only a small part of such interaction occurring during seatwork as one-to-one "tutoring." Students who spent more time in a group setting had higher rates of engagement. ... Engagement rates were especially low when students spent two-thirds or more of their time in seatwork and had little interaction with the instructor. (Fisher et aI., 1980, pp. 21-22) Tracking refers most often to grouping by ability in separate classrooms; this option is frequently found at the secondary level (Alexander & McDill, 1976; Good & Marshall, 1984; Metz, 1978; Persell, 1977; Rosenbaum, 1976). The more frequent strategy adopted at the elementary level is separate ability groups within a single classroom (Austin & Morrison, 1963; Barr, 1975; Hallinan & Sorensen, 1983). With respect to within class subgroup formation, ability grouping in teacherled instructional activities occurs most commonly (Good & Stipek, 1983). The Time To Learn study conducted for NIE pinpoints the classroom conditions needed if we are going to improve student achievement by increasing active learning time.