How did teaching styles and expectations vary between sets?
The study found a wide variation in ability between students in the same set. Nevertheless, teachers appeared to treat sets as if the students within them were all of approximately the same ability. They also used different teaching approaches for different sets. Teachers reported that they expected a good deal of top set students and gave them more challenging work. They expected students to work at a faster pace and included more opportunities for discussion. The pace in lower sets was slower. The work was more structured and repetitious. Teaching proceeded more slowly and offered few opportunities for discussion. It also covered less of the curriculum. Teachers who had experience of mixed ability teaching said that they changed their approach when asked to teach sets. The researchers suggested that this reflected a widespread, but mistaken belief, that within a given set, the spread of ability was relatively small. They also commented that ability grouping might encourage teachers t
