What is Multiage?
Multiage classrooms, also referred to as multilevel or mixed grade classrooms, are classrooms where students learn and grow together across more than one grade level. Multiage is NOT combo classes, where only 2 grades are present in the classroom.
Why Multiage?
We believe in a developmental, child-centered approach to engaging children in curriculum and authentic learning experiences. We all develop and learn at different paces.
The multiage classroom models honor the whole-child and allow for greater flexibility and differentiation in meeting children’s needs. A multiage classroom provides a safe, nurturing space for children to develop academic skills as well as social-emotional skills.
A focus on collaboration, leadership development and a project based curriculum helps prepare children to contribute and thrive in a democratic society. Multiage classrooms more closely model the world we live in and help children experience democracy firsthand.
Why do the Kindergarten - 3rd grade students remain with the same teachers for 4 years?
The teachers have the opportunity to get to know their students on a deep and personal level and adapt the learning to meet their needs. Studies have shown that having a caring, supportive, reliable relationship with a trusted adult is a protective factor for children’s well-being and mental health. In a multi-year experience, the teachers are able to respond to each child with respect, supporting students potential (Curtis, 2017).
How are the standards and curriculum met for both grade levels in a multiage classroom?
Multiage education takes a different view of learning--one that focuses on the whole child and that follows a non-linear path. We view this learning path for each child as a unique continuum, one in which “each child, at their own pace is learning to read, write, solve problems, think critically, socialize and grow emotionally, physically, and morally on their own continuum” (Stone, 2019). We engage in thematic studies and foster authentic and emergent learning experiences.
We believe in being transparent about the challenges that comes along with balancing our philosophical approach to learning along with the mandated grade level and priority standards set the California Board of Education and Fullerton School District. There are some resources that we are required to use in specific content areas. For example, the students use ST Math a spatial-temporal approach for math. These resources have value and we use them to support our students.
Will gifted students be challenged in a multiage classroom?
A multiage classroom can be a more challenging environment with greater opportunities for advanced students, including leadership roles.
Students exhibit a greater understanding when given the opportunity to teach others. Studies show that when older students teach information and skills to their younger classmates, the academic performance of older students improves dramatically (Veenman 1995).
Another researcher found that older-grade children benefit from taking responsibility for younger students, as well as develop an increasingly sophisticated understanding of that responsibility (Naylor 2000).
We also know that older and/or gifted does not always mean socially and emotionally advanced, too. Being a part of a multiage community empowers students to learn from and with peers who may have strengths in social-emotional even if they are not the same age.
How is intervention addressed in a multiage classroom?
Multiage classrooms provide increased opportunities to meet children where they are, which lends itself well in supporting a wide-range of abilities. Orangethorpe Multiage program also focuses on collaboration and direct intervention with our support staff of Reading Specialists and Intervention Specialists.
What does the research say about multiage learning?
Since our objective in school is to educate the whole child, a multiage setting that capitalizes on social and academic benefits is preferable to a single-grade level that tends to hold a more narrow view of success. The research below highlights these benefits:
Multi-age learning is not just limited to academic skills, but broadly engages each child’s intellect, intelligences, interests, and understandings of morality (DeVries & Zan, 2012; Katz, 2015; Noddings, 2010).
Multi-age offers children the “extraordinary opportunity to cultivate imagination, curiosity, creativity, and innovation” (Stone, 2019).
Student attitudes toward learning, school, self-concept, and personal and social adjustment were higher in the students who had participated in combination and multi-age classes (Veenman, 1996).
Mixed-age play is more creative and more imaginative, as well as more cooperative and less competitive (Gray, 2011).
Younger children or novices benefit from collaborative learning from older children, or experts, who model more sophisticated approaches to learning within authentic contexts such as projects (Kallery & Laupidou, 2016) and older children solidify mastery as they explain their approaches to younger children (Dowling, 2003; Roopnarine & Johnson, 1984).
The broadening of the learning community enriches the learning experiences for all children in mixed-age settings (Doherty, 2012; Gray, 2011, 2013).
Children challenge themselves to continue growing and learning as they have an innate drive to explore and learn (Curtis, 2017) and children see learning as “discovery, exploration, play, excitement, and joy” (Stone, 2004).
Children in multi-age classrooms learn to become autonomous, self-directed learners (Gray, 2014, 2017; Stone, 2004).
Parents of students in multi-age classrooms have noted that it provides a rich resource for children of diverse abilities, cultural backgrounds, and socioeconomic conditions, where they are able to appreciate and learn from one another (Leggett & Newman, 2017; Nieto, 2017).