The Long-Term Effects of Seventh-Grade Ability Grouping in Mathematics

Few definitive answers exist as to the implications of ability grouping for children's development. Perhaps the most significant source of this inconclusiveness has been the absence of a longitudinal perspective and long-term studies of the effects of ability grouping on children's development. To address this need, this study examined the long-term correlates of being placed in an ability-grouped mathematics class on entry into junior high school. Results revealed some negative and no positive correlates at the tenth-grade level for low-ability students placed in low-ability classrooms compared with their peers placed in ungrouped classrooms. Conversely, a number of positive correlates of ability grouping were found for medium- and high-ability students. Discussion focuses on the role of ability grouping in junior high school as a sorting event which sets youths on different trajectories that have implications for their later academic, career; and personal development.