How to Change to a Nongraded School

Madeline Hunter was a renowned authority on effective teaching. With more than 25 years' experience in leading a team-taught, nongraded school, the UCLA Laboratory School, she provided educators with practical ways to change a graded, K-6 elementary school into a nongraded one with multi-age classes at four levels: early childhood, lower elementary, middle elementary, and upper elementary.

This book describes the critical attributes of a nongraded school: students' continuous progress toward clearly stated goals, team teaching, and multi-age grouping. In a nongraded school, teachers diagnose the intellectual, social, physical, and emotional needs of students; assess their levels of skills and knowledge; and determine which teaching style and peer grouping is most appropriate for each student.

The instructional program of a nongraded school includes interdisciplinary education, team teaching, long-term developmental objectives for each student, independent study or creative projects, performance-based assessment, and cooperative learning.

Essential to the change process is continuing staff development, planning time for teachers, and preparation and involvement of parents. The author discusses creative ways to find time, intrigue the parents, and challenge the teachers. One chapter describes the goal of a nongraded school (or any excellent school): teaching to achieve independent learners. The last chapter is a case study of the change process at work at the UCLA Laboratory School.