A Relationship: Ability Grouping, Behaviour, Early Language
Introduction
An Education correspondent for the Guardian recently reported on the relationship between ability streaming and behaviour. The headline read, ‘Children harmed by school streaming into lower ability groups, UK study shows’ (Weale, 26 November, 2021). The article focuses on a recent study by University College London (UCL) that indicates a relationship between children being assigned to lower ability groups and their ongoing behaviour and emotional development. This is important as a number of children continue to leave school without age-appropriate levels of attainment. These findings will be important for all educational settings. However, they are particularly pertinent to early years development where opportunities to address this issue may be most fruitful. These findings are discussed here to provide you with the opportunity to seek the best ways forward for your child from day one.
Why Does Ability Grouping Matter?
It is reported that children assigned to low ability groups in school, then show more ongoing hyperactivity and emotional difficulties than their peers. The importance of this becomes clear when noting that it is not confined to the early school years and continues into adolescence. The findings from UCL have been published in the Child Development Journal and are being used to inform further research in this area.
The UCL findings indicated that children assigned to middle and lower ability groupings showed more ongoing hyperactivity than children in higher ability groupings. The findings with respect to those assigned to higher ability groups on the other hand showed a benefit when compared to non-grouping. There is clearly the need for much further research. However, bearing in mind that 79% of primary schools in the UK use ability grouping, the findings from UCL should surely be given immediate consideration in curriculum planning. It seems prudent for primary schools to be mindful of any effects that might be introduced into a classroom and that may undermine good teaching.
It should not be concluded from UCL’s study that attainment grouping should be disbanded. In examining other studies UCL noted an array of findings. The Education Endowment Fund found benefits to attainment grouping but this appeared to be based on limited data. As UCL suggests further study is called for. Nevertheless, as 25% of children continue to leave school without age-appropriate qualifications (for example see, Hazell, 2021), grouping may turn out to be a significant contributory factor.
What does ability grouping mean for me and my child?
Schools determine how best to apply and deliver the National Curriculum that the government has produced. The Department for Education does not dictate how a school or teacher should deliver the curriculum. Ability grouping may or may not be used in your child’s school. Supporting your child from birth to school entry will help them to be school ready and embrace what school has to offer. Language development and communication will play an important role in this.
Avoiding grouping effects
The child that enters school with age-appropriate language and communication skills will be ready to access more formal education. These can be developed in the home, at play groups, with friends in the nursery… As a teacher I saw the effects of children entering school with poor early language development (it should be noted that for some children additional language support may be required). In line with the findings of UCL and grouping effects the same effects can be seen when poor communication skills hinder educational progress. Studies have shown that a poor vocabulary at 5 can be an indicator of behavioural difficulties at 32 (see Law et al and the Communication Trust, 2016). It is likely that further study will reveal a link between poor early communication, attainment grouping and both educational and behavioural outcomes. The value of parents as first teacher in the earliest years of a child’s life cannot be overstated.
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