Activity: Initial Groupings

Mr. Brewster collected universal screening scores for his class. He could not find these scores for all of his students, so he decided to examine the scores on the end-of-year achievement test, as well. (See the list to the right. Scroll down to see scores for each student.)

Name:
Spring Universal
Screening Scores (WIF):
Achievement Test
Scores (percentile):
Paloma
Adam
Susie
Misty
Jack
Laney
Sammy
LaToya
Benika
Dejuan
Caleb
Casey
Paloma
n/a
22
Adam
n/a
n/a
Susie
n/a
73
Misty
n/a
84
Jack
19
2
Laney
37
18
Sammy
55
29
LaToya
60
27
Benika
61
51
Dejuan
63
64
Caleb
64
67
Casey
65
41

Name:
Spring Universal
Screening Scores (WIF):
Achievement Test
Scores (percentile):
Niklas
Harris
Teri
Jenny
Leoni
Jaye
Caroline
John
Irina
Hannah
Twyla
Alfredo
Niklas
66
56
Harris
69
60
Teri
71
71
Jenny
72
69
Leoni
72
75
Jaye
77
77
Caroline
80
78
John
81
87
Irina
83
83
Hannah
94
92
Twyla
108
96
Alfredo
140
99
After reviewing the assessment data (above), help Mr. Brewster divide the students into three groups for small-group reading instruction by clicking and draging each student to the desired group. A student may subsequently be moved from one group to another by dragging a student’s name.

Keep in mind that the objective is to best meet each student’s needs. While it may seem like a good idea to assign an equivalent number of students to each group, it is more important to make sure the performance levels in each group are aligned.
Group 1:
low-performing readers
Group 2:
middle-performing readers
Group 3:
high-performing readers

Students seated = 0 of 24

Click here for considerations for creating small groups

As you reflect on your group assignments, make sure you considered the following:

  • Did you group the students based on similar performance levels?
  • Did you consider the number of students in each group? Did you keep the groups relatively small and manageable? Assign no more than six students to the low-performing group in order to give them the instructional attention they need.
  • Could some students have been assigned to more than one group? If so, how did you make your grouping decision?
  • To which group did you assign Adam, given that Mr. Brewster has not received his records? How did your arrive at this decision?

Given these considerations, is there anything about your grouping assignments that you would change? If so, rearrange your student groups to address these issues.