The best way for someone to learn is to be surrounded by people who have the same study habits and attitude toward education, right? Wrong; placing someone with people who have the same study habits can greatly jeopardize ones’ disposition about learning. If poorly performing students are placed together, then they will only hinder his/her peers’ performances further. Students that are not as concerned about their grades should be disbursed with students that are excelling academically, this in turn will help motivate the poorly performing students to want to learn and get better grades on tests and help to get the students to want to do the work. Poorly performing students that may just be struggling with the subjects will also benefit from being placed with students that understand the subject because it gives the struggling students another resource to ask for help to understand the concepts being taught in class. The students that are performing very well in classes tend to have a much more positive attitude that can radiate throughout the classroom and help the unconcerned students to want to do well in classes.
Some students, mainly in the middle school and early high school years, may feel that it is “cool” to perform poorly in academics. Due to this, many students do not want to, in all honesty, do any of the work required in school, the students may fear that his/her peers will tease or taunt him/her. This behavior exists mainly in middle schools and begins to die off when students transfer into high school. For some, this is when academics and getting good grades really begin to matter because not performing well at this point can ultimately damage a student’s plan to move on to a higher level of education. Some students realize this before others, while the others still think it is “cool” or “funny” to perform inadequately. Grouping these students together will only further diminish their care toward school. If these students were to be placed with other, more mature, students, it would get them to realize that getting good grades is very important. Soon, before the students even realize it, they are beginning to show interest in their studies.
If students are truly struggling with a topic, they will be able to ask surrounding peers for assistance. This is a great way for students to also bond with each other and have conversations with people that they may not normally talk to. By spreading out the struggling students with others, it will help bring them all closer together, which in turn will make students want to be in school. Students will begin to be more comfortable around each other and not be as worried about what is “socially accepted” in schools. If students are more comfortable with their classmates, it will not be as intimidating for them to ask questions in class.
In the article “How Does Peer Pressure Affect Educational Investments?”, Leonardo Bursztyn and Robert Jensen conduct an experiment (both honors and non-honors classes were used for this experiment) where they offer students in their junior year of high school access to an online SAT preparatory course (2-3). Bursztyn and Jensen affirmed that whether or not the students signed up for the course would remain completely confidential, as well in other classes they stated that it would remain confidential except to fellow classmates. In the non-honors class, enrollment is 11 percent lower when the students believe that their peers will know that they enrolled in the course as to when they thought it was completely confidential. It was also observed that in the honors classes, the results did not differ at all between the two different circumstances. Observed in non-honors, students stated that it is more important to be popular, are less likely to sign up when they know their peers will know, as opposed to it being confidential. On the other side, in honors classes those who feel it is more important to be popular are more likely to sign up when they know that their peers will know, compared to it being private (2-3). This further proves that students are impacted greatly by peer pressure. If students believe that it is socially acceptable to do well in school, this can result in bettering all students’ grade point averages and education. Mixing unconcerned students together with hard-working students that are more concerned with their grades can ultimately alter what is socially acceptable and change the thinking around so that to be “popular,” students should perform better in school.
Dr. Angela Johnson argued in her dissertation “Homogenous Grouping and Its Effectiveness in the Elementary School Setting” that “…homogeneously grouped classes have a negative impact upon minority students, lower socio-economic students, and students with lower academic capabilities (17).” This shows that students who may happen to come from a family that is struggling financially, for example, may be at a disadvantage with their education. Students that receive a lower score on a standardized test can be placed into lower level classes, which can lead to the students actually receiving a lower level education, which is not fair to them.
Some may argue that students being grouped together by academic performance is a good idea and that it can provide a sort of competition in which students strive to do better than his/her classmates. This friendly form of competition can result in students having a higher grade point average as well as not just being satisfied with receiving, for example, a “B” on a test. When students want to do better and there is some competition, it can lead to the next generation being smarter and accomplishing great things.
Grouping students together can make some students feel excluded and lead to a lower self esteem. If the students are dispersed evenly, regardless of their grades, they will feel more part of a group. This can also help to put a stop to bullying. If students are grouped by academic performance, their peers may tease them for being in slower paced classes. Helen Abadzi claims that grouping students academically aids students who are excelling academically, while hindering the other students who are struggling (36). If students understand that they are in lower level classes, it will reflect in their attitude toward school and they will develop a lower self-esteem. While on the other side, if students believe that they are in a higher level course, it will give the students a sense of accomplishment and can greatly affect their attitude.
Grouping poorly performing students with students who are doing well in school can help develop good habits in school. Some habits that will help students to succeed in high school as well as whatever they decide to do after they graduate include good study habits, attendance, and self-discipline. Developing good study habits and a positive attitude in high school is crucial for students that are looking to further their education in college. As for the students that are looking to go into the work force directly following high school, this also teaches the students discipline to work hard and be teaches them to be good employees. High school teaches students that attendance is important. If students do not attend classes in college they will most certainly fall behind and possibly fail certain courses. Self discipline is taught by students completing homework and managing their time wisely to study for classes that are harder for them than others. Students who realize this earlier in their education usually fall into the category of students who excel in their studies.
When students who do not care very much about school are grouped together this can lead to them having lower expectations and think less of themselves. With lower expectations the students can lose the motivation to study or even show up for school (“Research” para. 2). When students lose motivation they can become depressed and even become more socially-awkward. Dispersing the students can give them a feeling of achievement and help them to bond with all students. Students should take courses in high school that challenge them and if they truly struggle they should seek help from teachers, peers, and/or tutors. Taking courses that are challenging in high school will prepare the students for college.
In conclusion, students should not be grouped together by academic performance because the students will hinder each others education. Separating these students will give them a chance to see that doing well in school is socially acceptable. Letting these students who are struggling be placed with students who are doing well in classes can help the struggling students to realize that school needs to be taken seriously in order for the students to have a successful future.