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Streaming

Streaming or ability grouping is a method that is used within schools as a form of segregating students into different groups based on their abilities (Zevenbergen, 2001). The issue of streaming or ability grouping is one of the oldest and most controversial issues within the educational system (Slavin, 1987). Streaming or ability grouping has many meanings; however, the most general is that it involves grouping students for instruction based on their ability or achievements so as to enable the reduction of their heterogeneity (Slavin, 1987). The advocates of streaming believed that this method of instruction would be beneficial to students as they are being exposed to such content that matches their understanding and abilities, which then in turn allow students to be adequately scaffolded in order to develop their competence (Slavin, 1987). Extensive research has been carried out to discover the effect of streaming on students with some claiming that is has a positive effect whilst others believe it to be quite the opposite (Chanan, 1970). This paper will aim to address the issues that arise in regards to streaming and how they relate to inequitable outcomes for students in accordance with the social justice goals of the Adelaide Declaration (MCEETYA, 1999).

When streaming was first introduced at the turn of the century as a way of individualising teaching within larger schools, teachers and educational researchers alike were eager to implement the process (Kulik & Kulik, 1982). Educators saw ability grouping as a way of ensuring that those children who were gifted would receive a quality education (Kulik & Kulik, 1982). The main aim for grouping students is to provide them with instruction that matches their different levels of understanding and as a consequence, this enables the students to progress on to greater levels of ability, which for some may simply mean completing higher education (Slavin, 1987). There have been many studies carried out in regards...