Prevent students being left behind

At the high school I went to, each year’s students were split into 8 “sets” for Math. Set assignment was based on ability, with Set 1 being the class with the brightest kids, and Set 8 holding pupils for whom Math often wasn’t their thing. I was in Set 7.

I would probably have never have thought of this again if I hadn’t run across how some public high schools place children of all ability levels together in the same class. Segregating children into different classes based on their ability in a subject is considered bad.

I think the type of segregation I experienced is really helpful to, and preferred by, students. They'd never call it “segregation”, though. "Segregation" has a negative connotation whereas being taught at a customized pace is always welcomed.

My high school’s segregated math classes worked very well. I didn’t realize how sensible this was until I saw how it was done elsewhere. We were happy in class (as happy as can be expected), and everyone did well in exams. We never felt that we were poor students - we felt we were good, just not as good as others.

I think that my Math class’s success was partly because all pupils were engaged. There was no “child left behind” as they say. I doubt Math would have been as enjoyable if I’d always been one of the last to understand, and if the class was often waiting for me to catch up. Perhaps, if faced with this, I would have spaced out and indeed been left behind. In any case, I think learning with my equals made Math class more enjoyable as well as effective.

(I think the same's true for soccer - you prefer playing with people who are roughly your equals rather than on teams that have a great variety of skill levels. I’m pretty much in Set 7 in soccer too. Of course, it’s fun for a thirteen year old to play with drunk visiting foreign football supporters every once in a while, but for playing regularly you prefer your own kind.)

Overall, I think high school classes are more effective and enjoyable if students are learning with their equals. When modern high schools create classes that reflect society rather than student learning needs, they should be clear about why they do this. For such a choice to make sense, the reason they describe will need to outweigh the damage done to students by being “left behind” in class.