Why does Success for All use homogeneous grouping across grades?
The grouping strategy used in SFA reading is the Joplin Plan, cross-grade grouping according to reading performance level. The Joplin Plan has been extensively studied over the years and has been found to be effective. It is often confused with tracking or ability grouping, which causes some educators to oppose it on philosophical grounds. However, the Joplin Plan is quite different. First, because it involves cross-grade grouping, there is no “high class” or “low class”; all classes (except the lowest-performing first grades) have high, average, and low achievers. Because groupings are revised every eight weeks, students are not relegated forever to a “track” from which it is difficult to move. In fact, because low achievers are likely to receive tutoring services, they are expected to move over time to higher-performing groups. The Joplin Plan creates groups all at one instructional level, enabling teachers to move at a very rapid pace. It avoids the need to have multiple reading gro
