Between- or within-class homogeneous ability grouping has a small negative effect on low-ability primary students but no effect on other students¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r? · q3
Currency · newest study 2018 · checked against its sources 2026-10-16 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Between- or within-class homogeneous ability grouping had a small negative effect on low-ability students, but no effect on others. → Deunk 2018

Evidence¶

Deunk 2018¶

Deunk, M. I., Jacobse, A. E., de Boer, H., Doolaard, S., & Bosker, R. J. (2018). Effective differentiation Practices: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on the cognitive effects of differentiation practices in primary education. Educational Research Review, 24, 31-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2018.02.002

q3 · i? · quant-synthesis · r?

Meta-analysis of studies on differentiation practices in primary education. The synthesis reports that "Between- or within-class homogeneous ability grouping had a small negative effect on low-ability students, but no effect on others"; no effect size value is printed.

"Between- or within-class homogeneous ability grouping had a small negative effect on low-ability students, but no effect on others."

Studies bearing on this claim¶

Does sorting learners into classes or groups by ability help them, and which learners gain or lose? This table gathers the studies behind this claim and the 11 narrower claims that bear on it: 6 distinct studies (3 causal, 1 quant-synthesis, 1 review, 1 associational), q2–q3, 0 of 6 with an effect size coded. One row per study, codes as each entry records them; no effect is averaged and no verdict is drawn. Built by scripts/synthesize_claim.py from eval/synthesis/; a row that looks wrong is fixed on the claim it comes from.

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• General Cognitive Ability — moderator: an instructional effect differs with it

Related Claims¶

• Differentiation embedded in a broader program or reform has small to moderate positive effects on primary students' performance — related
• The double-dose policy led schools to track algebra classes by entering math skills, making classrooms more homogeneous in ability — related
• Interactive pedagogy increased nearly half a standard deviation for below-norm students in homogeneous double-dose algebra classes — related
• Chicago's double-dose algebra policy raised algebra test scores for both low-skill and high-skill students — related
• Within-grade differences in primary school children's multiplication ability are very large. — related
• After Hillsdale High School detracked into heterogeneous small learning communities, 100% of African American and Latinx 9th-graders enrolled in biology (up from 18% in 2002–03) and assessment performance matched high-track schools — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Pre-policy, classroom average ability related positively to test scores but positively to failure, with effects strongest for high-ability students — related
• Average test scores are higher when classes are sorted by skill, driven by large learning gains for high-skilled students and slightly lower scores for low-skilled students — related
• Group differentiation by students' learning strategies raises secondary school student performance by a small but significant margin — related
• Using computerized systems as a differentiation tool has small to moderate positive effects on primary students' language and math performance — related
• The grade effect of learning-strategy differentiation is driven by instruction-dependent and instruction-independent students, not the average group — related
• Tracking intensified concentration of behavioral and absentee problems in double-dose algebra classes, explained by declines in peer ability — related
• When classes are sorted by skill level, low-skilled students are at higher risk of being in disruptive classrooms, weakening their instructional environment — related
• Differentiating curriculum for students above grade level is associated with higher math achievement in 2nd grade only — related
• Below-norm students' test scores improved post-policy (0.88 points total), and the relationship between classroom average ability and their scores was no longer statistically significant post-policy — related
• Quality of explanations is higher in groups containing above-average students than in groups without them — related
• Within-class heterogeneity in achievement or interest did not directly predict outcomes, but differentiated instruction was particularly advantageous in more heterogeneous German classes — related