Grouping for Achievement Gains: For Whom Does Achievement Grouping Increase Kindergarten Reading Growth?

With ever-present budget cuts, teachers often use within-class achievement grouping to meet the needs of students of all ability levels but particularly high-ability students. Using a national database, this study examined the relationship between achievement grouping and the size of achievement groups on kindergarten reading growth. Additionally, it examined whether those relationships differed for kindergarteners in a gifted program. Findings suggest that achievement grouping is related to higher reading achievement, particularly when the average group size is small. Furthermore, although students provided gifted programming at the early grade of kindergarten generally experienced less kindergarten reading growth than their peers, this study suggests the use of achievement grouping provided them the opportunity and instruction to improve their reading achievement during the kindergarten year.