About Our Multigrade Classrooms
Since its inception, AVAS has been a multi-grade classroom school, often with 2 to 4-grade levels per classroom dependent on factors like enrollment or teacher experience. Whatever the grade bands may be, the value of a multi-grade classroom does not change. Students in lower grades learn from watching their older peers and from being exposed to upper-level concepts. Older students gain leadership skills and confidence as they assist younger students and naturally develop ease and comfort within their teachers' classrooms.
Multi-grade classrooms use cycles to determine the topics taught in the classroom for the year. Teachers are encouraged to plan for and adhere to the standards for each cycle's topics. Cycles do not necessarily mean that a teacher is instructing the whole class to a specific grade level that year, only to the topics. Teachers are responsible for differentiating in their classroom to reach all learning levels. Teachers use many strategies to reach all learners, such as: one-to-one collaboration, peer-to-peer or small group activities, assignment modifications, and more.
Flexible grouping is another strategy our multi-grade teachers employ, where students are grouped based on their abilities rather than their grade levels. Student abilities are determined by a number of things: standardized test results, academic performance, behavior in the classroom, and teacher observations. This allows the teacher to differentiate instruction and provide more personalized learning experiences.
Benefits of A Multigrade Class
- Confidence
- Leadership Skills & Qualities
- Stronger connections with peers & teachers
- More opportunities for review & for exposure to advanced word
We often find that lower-grade students benefit from exposure to advanced or above-grade-level work, while older students also benefit from review. Even in traditional, single-grade classrooms, teachers differentiate based on students' abilities and skill levels. Student expectations are no different in a single-grade classroom than in a multi-grade classroom.
