Two Steinhardt studies found that K-12 students learning English benefit more from working alongside peers with varied proficiencies, compared to the current standard of grouping students by fluency. 

Analyzing over 31,000 New York City high school students, the latest study found that when students less proficient in English were grouped together — known as homogeneous grouping — they were 10% to 15% less likely to graduate within four years and 12% to 13% less likely to enroll in college right after graduation, compared to peers in mixed settings. It came out just weeks after a similar Steinhardt study evaluated how grouping affects English learners’ performances in elementary schools.

In classroom observations, Michael Kieffer, Steinhardt professor and lead author of the older study, said researchers noticed that teachers ask more open-ended questions in mixed settings, seeming to have higher expectations for students when there was a mix of English and non-English learners. 

“Teachers need to be very cautious not to assume that grouping English learners together is the best approach,” Kieffer, who also worked on the more recent study, told WSN. “It’s just something that teachers default into … but it’s not necessarily beneficial in the long term for many students.”

Kristin Black, lead author of the most recent study and research scientist at NYU’s Institute for Human Development and Social Change, told WSN that when English-learning students are concentrated together, the negative effects can extend beyond academics. She said that the separation can leave students feeling distant from their peers or like they have less access to the content they need in order to be successful.

“Schools are just trying to do what they think is best for students and get them what they need,” Black said. “But we know, from a long history of segregation, that that’s not usually what students need.”

Kieffer and his team sorted 84 elementary students into all-EL, mixed EL or non-EL groups that followed the same 12-week literacy curriculum taught by the same teachers. There was no statistically significant difference in outcomes, although they observed that higher-proficiency students often performed better in mixed groups.

However, while homogeneous grouping can be harmful for students with higher English proficiencies, those with lower proficiencies benefited from this method in earlier stages. Researchers suggested that this was because the straightforward language used in homogeneous classrooms makes the material more comprehensive, but can only advance students so far.

“It might be beneficial for students at some times — particularly for a short term period of time, or in a flexible way,” Kieffer said. “But it’s not necessarily beneficial in the long term for many students. I think teachers need to question their assumptions and think creatively about how to integrate English learners into instruction with non-English learners.”

Contact Selin Kemiktarak at [email protected].