Hi there. In this education post I talk about split grade classes. A split grade class where two grade levels are in the same classroom taught by one teacher. I am not sure if this occurs in other parts of the world but split grade classes do happen in the Toronto area.
In a split class you have students from two different grades in the same class under one teacher. I think one of the common reasons for a split grade class is that there may not be enough students in one grade or both grades. The usual maximum capacity in my area would be around 30 students but this maximum can vary between different school boards, schools and regions. If one group in one grade has 15 students and another group with a different student grade has 15 students it would be more efficient to have both sets of students together. Having 15 and 15 in one classroom would be more cost efficient than having 2 teachers with 15 students each.
The motivation behind this post was based on my private educational services work. This young student is a grade 3 student in grade 3 and 4 split class. Some of this student's questions are somewhat difficult. In my area many grade 3 students are being introduced multiplication with single digit numbers. There were a few questions which featured larger numbers and even some division. I thought to myself this is kind of ambitious for grade three. Seeing this made me realize that this was a possible factor for a low score on this grade three student's test.
I have not experienced being in a split class when I was younger. I think my brother has had split classes twice. The teacher would teach one concept to the lower grade and give a task. To the other grade a different lesson and task would be given from the same teacher. From the student experience side of things I think it is somewhat weird to listening to something that is not really for your grade.
Split grade classes seems like a tough task for teachers. You have to prepare two sets of materials because of the two grades. I do not want to imagine the planning that goes on for these teachers. Finding the balance when it comes to time management for the two grades would be tricky as well.
In the teaching environment, the teacher would have to be careful to not mix up topics, tasks and homework between the two grades. Giving homework from the upper grade to the lower grade would likely to result in complaints. The other way around of having the upper grade students having lower grade homework would not be good as well.
I had a past education post about the luck of the draw. Students do not really choose their teachers nor choose whether or not they get a split grade class. Parents of the students could change teachers if they wish to. Parents could also change schools but moving may not be an option or there could be emotional attachment to the school because of friends.
Teachers also deal with the luck of the draw too. They don't really select their students. Their group of students could be a well behaved group, a naughty group and/or low skill group of students. Both teachers and students go with what they are given.
Thank you for reading.
