Schools "teaching in ’ability’ sets despite evidence this may cause harm

Schools are rejecting the chance to teach children in "mixed-ability" classes despite evidence that the alternative - pupils being put in ability sets or streams - will have a negative effect on at least some of their charges' results, according to new research from UCL. The paper - "Factors deterring schools from mixed attainment grouping practices," written by Dr Becky Taylor, UCL Institute of Education (IOE), together with academics from Queen's University, Belfast, was presented yesterday at the British Educational Research Association's (BERA) annual conference. The study finds that fear of reactions from parents, who often expect children to be grouped in sets or streams, as well as a more general caution in schools, may be playing a part in these decisions. It cites previous evidence that setting, where pupils are grouped in classes based on prior results in tests or other judgements the school may make about their "ability", is overwhelmingly used for maths in English secondary schools. It is also widely used in English in secondaries, while setting has also been extending into primary schools. This is despite established research showing that, while "high-attaining" pupils may make some gains from the practice, the reverse is true for those in lower sets, including many students from poorer backgrounds. The BERA paper sets out difficulties the research team had in even finding schools to take part in a major investigation they are carrying out into "best practice" in how pupils should be grouped in the early years of secondary school.