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Engaging Underachieving GT Students through Independent or Flexible Grouping

Kristi L. Hayes
GTE 537
April 21, 2011
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In a traditional model of classrooms, students change teachers at the end of every

school year. This model divides students into defined grade levels by age, regardless of

the child’s background knowledge, home environment, and social / emotional needs.

Also, this model does not take into consideration that gifted students need a curriculum

that challenges them with authentic, rigorous work and is not just a “one size fits all”

curriculum. What happens to GT students in the classroom where the teacher tries to

“differentiate” but does not have a true understanding of what these unique students

need?

Each year, teachers welcome new students into their classrooms and these same

teachers spend numerous days and sometimes weeks implementing classroom routines

and expectations. During pre-planning, they decided on the information they need to

know about students in order to differentiate instruction, such as reading levels, math

skill levels, learning styles, and interests. In addition, assessing their students is another

activity that gives them valuable data at the beginning of the school year. Working on

creating a safe and nurturing learning environment is another factor that teachers must

deal with in a timely manner in order to help build relationships within the classroom.

Sounds like the perfect scenario for all students to be successful learners; however, this is

not the case in the majority of classrooms. Even though differentiation is required in most

schools, teachers still have a hard time understanding what is required to meet the needs

of all students, especially the gifted and talented.

Would underachieving GT students be more engaged with learning if given the

opportunity to do independent studies and work within flexible grouping? Teaching the

curriculum for a specific content area and making sure that every student knows the
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material is what teachers focus on the most, not whether the students are ready to move

on or need enrichment. The weight of accountability is growing heavier and heavier. It

begins at the federal level and works its way down to the classroom teachers. So, in the

mind of an educator it is always imperative that the curriculum gets covered before

testing. If a classroom of thirty students has only a small percentage of students with

special needs, learning disabled or gifted, the teacher (even with the requirement of

having to differentiate) will teach to the majority. In the article, Reading Instruction with

Gifted and Talented Readers, the author shared a story of a second grade student named

“Molly”. By second grade she was reading and comprehending on a fifth grade level yet

her teacher made her sit through second grade basal text activities because it was school

district policy and she didn’t know “how to best provide reading instruction for her gifted

readers”. (Wood, 2008)

Our goal as educators is to develop an environment with developmentally

appropriate practices that enhance the emotional, social, and academic needs of our

students. Teachers, administrators, researchers, and theorist continually search for the

strategies that work best for learning. However, no matter how much research is done,

what works with one student does not always work for another. One strategy that works

well with gifted students is independent study. According to the authors of “Teaching

Gifted Students through Independent Study” (Chapter 13), the definition of independent

studies coming from Johnsen and Johnson (2007) states it is:

a process students use when they research a new topic by themselves or

with others. This process is cyclical and includes a variety of steps that

engage the students in acting like professionals, such as posing

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questions, gathering information related to the questions, organizing the

information, and presenting the information to an audience. (p.1)

There are nine basic steps in completing an independent study which are, introducing the

independent study, selecting a topic, organizing the study, asking questions, choosing a

study method, gathering information, developing a product, sharing information, and

evaluating the study. Teachers should choose from the various models available

(Enrichment Triad Model, Three-Stage Model, Self-Initiated Model, etc.) to help them

incorporate this strategy within their teaching. However, some guidelines should be

followed in order for it to be an engaging strategy and not end up frustrating all parties

involved. The authors of Chapter 13 in the textbook, Methods and Materials for teaching

the Gifted, recommend the following: 1)don’t confuse aptitude with skill, 2)identify

independent study skills, 3)adapt as the student changes, 4)use different types of research,

5)make it a part of a regular program, not an addition, 6)monitor progress and products,

7)develop an appropriate evaluation, 8)believe in the student’s ability and be a model,

and 9)remember that independent study is only one way of meeting the needs of gifted

students. Therefore, let’s look into another strategy that teachers can use to motivate

gifted and talented students when they become bored with the repetition of projects...

flexible grouping by ability or interest.

Flexible grouping is a strategy that works well with gifted and talented students,

as well as other students in the classroom. The term flexible grouping refers to a practice

of varying grouping strategies for instruction. During an ordinary day, students work in a

variety of flexible grouping configurations such as small group, individual, or whole

group. The main objective of varying the working environment is flexibility and fluidity
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of instruction (Caldwell & Ford, 2002). Therefore, the students’ needs and interests guide

the instruction instead of instruction guiding the students.

When implementing flexible grouping, the instructional needs of the students and

the collaborative learning environment are most important. Flexible grouping gives the

teacher more autonomy and opportunity to observe the students while determining what

skills need to be taught at what time. Common interest groups, shared task groups, and

dyads are the three most common small-group combinations that are beneficial in a

classroom. However, whole-class meeting, teacher-led small groups and individual

instruction also play important roles in flexible grouping. The most important component

when designing flexible groups is to have heterogeneous groupings combined with

varying ability levels (Hoffman, 2002).

One type of flexible grouping is the student-led common interest groups. Within

this group, the students are responsible for choosing their partners according to interest. It

is essential that the teacher model how to work together before the group begins as well

as continually monitoring the interactions so that everyone is working to their potential.

Conversation before, during, and after the collaborative group work is extremely

important to the success of the group (Hoffman, 2002).

Palincsar and Herrenkohl (1999) have identified key social skills that ensure the

success of collaborative groups. First, all students must contribute to the group by sharing

resources, discussing ideas, and taking turns participating in a variety of jobs. Secondly,

students should be able to explain their ideas and give examples. Next, students should be

able to listen to other ideas with an open mind, which in turn will lend itself to the final

skill, which is the ability to build upon one another’s ideas (Hoffman, 2002).
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Flexible grouping within a classroom goes hand in hand with the cognitive-

developmental philosophy. Learning theorists, Piaget and Vygotsky, both believed in

social settings for learning. Piaget encouraged learning through exploration rather that

direct or explicit teaching, while Vygotsky described learning in a similar fashion. His

beliefs stemmed from the fact that the teacher or someone more knowledgeable should

first model the behavior but the students should have many opportunities to practice with

their peers (Morrow, Gambrell, Pressley, 2003).

It is often said that the best predictor of what a student will learn is what they

already know. For many educators, prior knowledge is the foundation of learning.

According to Vygotsky’s notion of “zone of proximal development”, learning takes place

when teachers determine what level of understanding each student is at and then teach the

new skills or ideas at the appropriate level for each student. Every classroom is made up

of children with different ability levels, learning styles, and behaviors. The classroom

must be structured to embrace its diversity and celebrate its resources. Gifted students, as

well as the majority of students, deserve to be given an engaging, positive learning

environment in which to thrive. Since the needs of a gifted student vary greatly from that

of an average student or learning disabled student then the strategies used to engage these

students must vary with options such as, independent study and flexible grouping. There

is no perfect world in education, but there are some shining starts!

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References

Caldwell, J. S. & Ford, M. P. (2002). Where have all the bluebirds gone? How to soar

with flexible grouping. New York: Heinemann.

Hoffman, J. (2002). Flexible grouping strategies in the multiage classroom. Theory into

practice, 41, 47-52.

Johnsen, S. K. & Goree, K. K. (2009). Teaching gifted students through independent

study. In F. A. Karnes & S. M. Bean (Ed.), Methods and materials for teaching

the gifted (pp. 415 – 445), Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.

Morrow, L. M., Gambrell, L. B., Pressley, M. (2003). Best practices in literacy

instruction (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford.

Wood, P. (2008). Reading instruction with gifted and talented readers: A series of

unfortunate events or a sequence of auspicious results?. Gifted Child Today,

31(3), 16-25.