The Multiage Model Defined

     Multiage classrooms are groupings of students of different ages, grade levels, and ability levels. The purpose of creating a diverse classroom community is to provide more effective instruction for all students in the program, to enhance the social skills of its participants, and to accelerate cognitive development. Students spend more than one year with a single teacher in this model. They develop stronger relationships with their instructor and their peers. Parents and teachers may also develop a closer relationship than in a traditional single grade classroom. Teachers in multiage classrooms work closely in teams allowing for more opportunities to share strategies and experiences.

     In a multiage classroom, the individual needs and characteristics of students are considered a vital element in the design of instruction. Assessment of student is ongoing and frequent. Students are grouped for instruction and independent practice in a wide variety of settings adapted to the instructional needs of the students based on outcomes of assessments. Children participate in small group activities, student led sessions, whole group instruction, one-on-one instruction with the teacher, learning centers, work-stations, and independent work. Materials used to teach and practice in these settings vary according to student readiness. The classroom is arranged to provide space for student movement, comfortable work-spaces, and flexibility for grouping children to suit instruction. Students participate in activities that are engaging and relevant. Manipulatives, creative projects, open-ended activities, and thematically based projects are used to provide a range of developmentally appropriate instruction. Skill and maturity levels of students in a single year homogeneous classroom are vastly different. The range is more expansive in a multiage classroom. Providing challenge to students at every skill level demands that teachers be creative. At the higher skill levels, multiage instruction allows students to stretch further beyond traditional grade level standards than in a single year classroom, resulting from the flexibility of the instructor to meet the needs of the individual. More knowledgeable students are also given the opportunity to mentor their peers. Children retain more information delivered by another student than from a lectured delivery from an instructor. Research has also shown that this setting benefits students that require additional help and instruction. Flexibility in instructional planning and opportunities for peer mentoring benefit students in need of extra help with academic and social objectives. (See the benefits of a multiage program)

     Multiage programs are frequently confused with split classes and looping classrooms. (Look at comparison of the different types of programs). Some districts have created split classrooms in order to meet budget requirements by combining grade levels when class sizes in the grades decline. In a split class, the grade levels are taught distinct and separate curriculum and students are exposed to instruction only at their own grade level. Unlike a split room, multiage classrooms are intentionally heterogeneous in design in order for students to benefit from flexible groupings and diverse classroom communities. Looping classrooms continue with a teacher for several years. Like in a split classroom, students are only exposed to instruction at their grade level. Children have the benefit of a developing relationship with a teacher, but the classroom is not as diverse as in a multiage room.