There is widespread debate as to whether or not the 'multigrade' classroom model is more detrimental than it is helpful in modern schools across the United States. Many believe it to be damaging to educational standards - citing the main and most obvious disadvantage of there being too much of a chasm in ability and maturity between those in lower grades to those in higher ones.
Mixing children from different grades together can ultimately mean having a seven year old pupil in the same classroom environment as a nine year old student. Naturally, the nine year old is likely to be more developed and advanced in terms of educational attainment and social skills. The disadvantage here is that the nine year old may end up with work that doesn't challenge them enough to help in their development, or else the seven year old may end up with work that is too difficult and advanced for their level of ability. Both of these outcomes are seen as being equally damaging and could result in the development of a poor attitude towards work and school life, as well as low self-esteem, feelings of failure and a drop in motivation levels.
Similarly, blending grades together may force the teacher in a multigrade classroom into assigning two or more different work projects to suit the needs of the younger and older students in a class. Whilst this may help them to work at a level which matches their own ability, it could also lead to some confusion when the teacher tries to address the class as a whole, seeing as though the children won't all be working on the same activity. As such, many people see individual students receiving less attention and one-on-one tutoring as being a major disadvantage of the increasingly common multigrade approach.
Mixing children from different grades together can ultimately mean having a seven year old pupil in the same classroom environment as a nine year old student. Naturally, the nine year old is likely to be more developed and advanced in terms of educational attainment and social skills. The disadvantage here is that the nine year old may end up with work that doesn't challenge them enough to help in their development, or else the seven year old may end up with work that is too difficult and advanced for their level of ability. Both of these outcomes are seen as being equally damaging and could result in the development of a poor attitude towards work and school life, as well as low self-esteem, feelings of failure and a drop in motivation levels.
Similarly, blending grades together may force the teacher in a multigrade classroom into assigning two or more different work projects to suit the needs of the younger and older students in a class. Whilst this may help them to work at a level which matches their own ability, it could also lead to some confusion when the teacher tries to address the class as a whole, seeing as though the children won't all be working on the same activity. As such, many people see individual students receiving less attention and one-on-one tutoring as being a major disadvantage of the increasingly common multigrade approach.
