Series 6000: Instruction

6152 Grouping Policy

The placement of students in instructional groups, classrooms, and programs of study, has a significant impact on their educational and social development. No one grouping or placement practice is best for all children under all circumstances, but some general principles are common to all proper grouping and placement decisions. It is the policy of the Board of Education that grouping and placement decisions be based exclusively on educational considerations and that their primary goal be to promote the best educational interests of the students in question.

In making grouping and placement decisions, staff members must give due regard to the following general principles:

• Students can learn much from students whose skills and interests are different from their own in heterogeneous groups;

• Different students have different skills and interests;

• Students develop at different rates in different areas of learning;

• Students learn from other students as well as from adults; and 

Grouping and placement decisions should also reflect the fact that changes in a student's educational development may require changes in his or her placement. Grouping and placement decisions, consequently, should be flexible, and they should be reviewed regularly to test their appropriateness. 

Policy adopted: October 15, 2007 THOMASTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Thomaston, Connecticut