Moving away from Streaming
As the educational landscape evolves, our school is undertaking a shift away from ability grouping, more specifically, streaming students based on perceived academic performance. I would like to offer a brief insight into the decision-making process and the rationale behind this change.
While streaming was favoured as far back as the 1930’s, the research, nowadays, overwhelmingly indicates that the effects of this practice are generally minimal and tend to exacerbate existing inequalities rather than improve educational outcomes for learners. In countries with leading educational systems, like Finland for instance, streaming has been outlawed entirely. Despite various arguments in favour of streaming, which highlight potential benefits for high-achieving students, evidence generally suggests that most groups of students often face adverse consequences academically, but also socially and emotionally.
Beyond purely academic considerations, we are mindful of the social and emotional effects associated with streaming particularly in primary schools. These effects encompass the negative impact on students' self-concept, confidence, resilience, and motivation. Additionally, streaming can contribute to the development of a fixed mindset and, to some extent, become a self-fulfilling prophecy for students, reinforcing negative stereotypes and limiting their opportunities to learn. This perpetuates educational inequality, and we see this particularly affecting our female students.
As you may have been aware, last year our school participated in our school review. All schools must take part in a school review every 4 years as an assurance of ongoing compliance with the minimum standards related to curriculum and student learning. One of the major recommendations that came out of the school review, was to address the practice of streaming here at Northcote Primary School. A recommendation that has been discussed with the school council.
Following the school review, we then develop a four-year strategic plan based on the recommendations provided by the review panel. This longer-term plan then serves as the foundation for our annual implementation plan (AIP), a document outlining our 12-month goals and targets. As part of our AIP this year, we are undertaking a range of professional learning and have enlisted the expertise of a numeracy consultant to support us in refining our instructional model and the collaborative planning that underpins this. Central to our efforts is consideration for explicit differentiation strategies that allows for flexible learning tasks and an individualised approach. This includes enabling strategies for learners who need support and more importantly extending prompts for students who require additional challenge.
Please be assured that we are dedicated to maintaining a collaborative and team-based educational approach. Team teaching will remain a core element to the way we work. We will continue to place importance on our teachers working together to collaborate in Professional Learning Communities (PLC) to support all the learners in their cohorts. These teams will continue to serve as practical platforms for teachers to collaboratively plan, share insights, refine teaching strategies, and collectively contribute to the ongoing improvement of our practices.
In summary, the effects of streaming are negligible, it’s not best practice and is not an effective way to raise attainment for students. It is for these reasons that our school is reassessing the practice of streaming and looking at more progressive ways of ensuring that all our students receive high-quality instruction, regardless of their attainment level or ability. Our decision is grounded in a desire to provide all students with an opportunity to succeed and be challenged.
If you would like to know more, the Victorian Education Department has released a comprehensive document on “Ability Grouping”. If you have trouble accessing the PDF via the link below, please speak to the office to access a copy.