Date
4-2020
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education in Curriculum & Instruction (EdD)
Chair
Lisa A. Foster
Keywords
Gifted, Reading, Elementary, Grouping, Homogeneous, Heterogeneous
Disciplines
Education
Recommended Citation
London, Amy E., "The Difference Between Homogeneous Grouping and Heterogeneous Grouping in Gifted Students’ Reading Achievement" (2020). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 2437.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/2437
Abstract
The educational focus of the United States is on ensuring that all students are proficient in the areas of reading and math. Most academically gifted and talented students are placed in heterogeneously grouped classrooms; thereby, ignoring the needs of these talented readers. This quantitative causal-comparative study sought to determine if a difference existed between the reading achievement growth of gifted elementary students who were homogeneously grouped for reading instruction as compared to gifted elementary students who were heterogeneously grouped for reading instruction with a sample size of 119 gifted elementary students in the State of Georgia. Additionally, it looked at differences in pre- and posttest scores of each group individually. The participants were divided into two groups (homogeneous and heterogeneous) according to reading instruction type. An analysis of covariance determined that there was no significant difference between the homogeneous and heterogeneous groups. Paired samples t-test determined that there were differences in pre- and posttest scores for both the homogeneous group and the heterogeneous groups. Recommendations for future research are to conduct research with a larger sample and controlling for such things as teacher experience, teacher certifications, instructional methods, testing, and grouping.
