Trinity plans flexible grouping for students

By the end of the first semester this year, Trinity Area School District third graders may be grouped in math based on their mastery of skills.
The concept is called “flexible grouping” and it’s something that Superintendent Paul Kasunich would like to see in kindergarten through eighth grade classes.
The idea is that students who are ahead shouldn’t be held back and those who are struggling shouldn’t be pushed ahead until they learn those skills.
Trinity will build into it slowly because it will change how education is delivered, he said. Within the groupings, the district will continue a concept called differentiated instruction, where teachers tailor instruction to each child’s needs.
He said recently that third grade teachers are looking at how to implement flexible grouping in Trinity Schools.
“Teachers are taking ownership over creating this model,” Kasunich said.
They will be visiting other schools that effectively use it, including Pine Richland School District. There, they will talk to other teachers about flexible grouping to find out the issues they had with implementing the program. Kasunich wants to make sure they think of all the things that could possible happen, he said.
Some Trinity board members, administrators and teachers have already visited Eden Hall Upper Elementary School in Pine Richland to see how the school uses flexible grouping, said Eden Hall Principal Robert Cooper.
Find out more in the Observer-Reporter next week.