by Vivian Chang, staff reporter
When people think of schools and how students are grouped into classes, they usually think of single grade classrooms. That means that there’s only one grade level, in one classroom, learning the same thing at once. A multigrade classroom is when there’s more than one grade level in one class.
The idea of multigrade classrooms are controversial. Multigrade classrooms are not necessarily always a bad thing. In some schools, there are three or more grade levels in one class. This is due to the No Child Left Behind law, a controversial topic between republicans and democrats. This law states that all the grade levels in the country are learning the same things, around the same time so that no child is left behind.
“Teaching two different grade levels differs from just teaching one grade level because people come in at different points and levels,” trigonometry teacher Mr. Mullen said.
Teachers might see it as a great opportunity to teach one thing to everyone, but students think it’s a great way to acquaint themselves with other grade levels.
“It’s good to associate with younger grades. Sometimes they have the same questions that I have too,” junior Amina Chowdhury said.
Although some don’t really mind being in a class with another grade level, others feel like the class is way too big. Mr. Gardner’s third period algebra 2/trig class has 35 students, the maximum amount of students the law allows.
“The maturity level is different in both grades. The class is out of control sometimes and we’re not even learning. We just argue about irrelevant stuff because of the maturity level,” junior Ashley Luttrell said.
Research has shown that multigrade classrooms encourage cognitive and social growth. Some may argue that grade level classes can motivate the younger students while the older students may feel a sense of leadership towards the younger grade levels.
Being in a multigrade class shows that you’re all on the same level. There should be multigrade classrooms because it doesn’t really matter what year you were born in as long as everyone in the class is on the same level when they go into the class.
