Does Small Group Instruction Squander the Literacy Block?
In this video, Dr. Justin Baeder discusses Mike Schmoker and Timothy Shanahan's argument that common small group instruction practices waste valuable literacy time.
Key Takeaways
- Whole-class instruction may be more effective - Schmoker and Shanahan argue that well-designed whole-class lessons reach more students more efficiently
- Small groups often lack rigor - While the teacher works with one group, other students frequently do busy work with little learning value
- Time is the most precious resource - How schools use the literacy block matters enormously, and fragmented small group rotations may not be the best use of it
Transcript
Is small group instruction, especially in early literacy, actually keeping kids from learning how to read?
That is kind of the argument of a new piece in Education Week by Mike Schmoker and Timothy Shanahan.
Now if you don't know Shanahan, he is a leading literacy guru.
He's cited extensively in Emily Hanford's Soul to Story podcast.
And if you don't know Mike Schmoker, he's been writing about dosage and just the amount of instruction students get for a very long time.
And I think they make a compelling argument here that the problem with small group instruction is that it results in less instruction overall per kid, right?
If you are only being taught in a small group in your literacy block, well, then most of the time you're not being taught.
You're doing something independently.
You're doing stations.
You're doing something that is less intensive than being taught a lesson by a skilled teacher.
And of course, that's just simple math, right?
Like if there are three small groups, well, two thirds of the time, you're not working with the teacher.
And what, of course, they're arguing for as the alternative here is more whole class instruction.
And a lot of people say, well, wait a minute, if we do whole class instruction, then we can't differentiate as much.
Well, they talk about that as well.
And they say, well, the problem with differentiation is in a lot of cases, we're teaching below grade level stuff.
Kids are learning less because we're differentiating in the sense of teaching down, teaching below where they need to be getting instruction at grade level.
And I think this is pretty serious as a bulk scale issue, right?
I think the math here is pretty undeniable that if we're spending a lot of time in small groups, we are doing less teaching per kid.
And if we are teaching below grade level standards when we are working with small groups, We've really got to think about that.
And I think there is a place for intensive work in small groups with kids who are below grade level and need something to catch up.
And I think we need tutors, we need reading specialists, we need expert help, we need RTI, those kinds of things.
But as a core instructional model, I think there's a very compelling case here for reconsidering small group instruction in primary literacy.
Let me know what you think.