Grouping children by ability is nothing new, but how do you feel about it? Personally, I feel that while it might be great for those children who are in the highest achieving group, the ones who are at the bottom may feel as though they are being left behind with no chance to improve their standard of work.
When children are in mixed ability groups, those who are more able can encourage those who are less able, and this means that they can progress in all ways - the more able children will improve their own abilities by trying to teach methods to the lesser able children.
When I was at school everything was mixed ability, and now it seems that setting is more common.
How do you feel about it? Do you feel that one method might hold children back from what they are capable of achieving?